In Ireland we have the tradition of lighting a candle in the window at Christmas as a sign of welcome, but I think we have forgotten its significance. Many of the people who have migrated to Ireland over the past few years to work certainly don't feel welcome, writes Stanislaus Kennedy
Our economy needs up to 30,000 migrant workers a year to fill our skill and labour shortages, and we are fortunate that increasing numbers of economic migrants are in fact opting to come to Ireland, attracted by employment opportunities in a higher-wage economy than their own.
And yet we are reluctant to recognise Ireland as an immigrant society.
Because of our reluctance to accept this fundamental change in Irish society we have virtually no public policy on immigration. Instead we have a set of ad-hoc procedures, several Government Departments with no co-ordination between them and outdated methods for dealing with immigrants, and our attitudes range from unwelcoming to positively hostile.
Voices of Immigrants, a report commissioned recently by the Immigrant Council of Ireland, identifies serious deficiencies in immigration policy, one of the worst of which is our work-permit system.
The vast majority of economic migrants from outside the EU come to Ireland on work permits. A work permit is issued to the employer, is non-transferable and is issued for a maximum of a year.
This means that the worker is dependent on the good will of the employer and can find it very difficult to change jobs - which is not far off indentured labour.
Economic migrants in Ireland on permits work long hours in physically demanding work, have poor working conditions, lack opportunities for promotion and get lower wages than their Irish counterparts.
Many economic migrants work in jobs far below their skill level and qualifications, and there is little opportunity for advancement because the employer holds the work permit and because, for the most part, their qualifications are not recognised.
Many face the threat of deportation or are at risk of becoming undocumented if their jobs are terminated or if their permits are not renewed.
Economic immigrants do not have a statutory right to a family life. In practice, many of our policies are keeping family members separated. Family reunification may be granted, but on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
Economic immigrants can face substantial difficulties when trying to get family members, including their children, to join them in Ireland even for a short holiday visit.
These problems include long waiting times for visas, high rates of refusal and limited opportunities to appeal against decisions.
Where family members are permitted to come to live in Ireland, most do not have an automatic right to work.
Because of this, spouses often opt to remain in the home country, as it can be difficult to support a family in Ireland on one wage, given the high cost of family accommodation and the cost of living.
Economic immigrants, who may be struggling with a new language and a bewilderingly different culture, lack of provision for their needs, poor working conditions, restrictions on family life and hostile attitudes from the host community, need access to support groups, advocacy and information, language classes, adult education and interpretation services.
There is, of course, a bleak irony in all of this, for our own history, up to very recent times, has included vast experience of emigration.
Of all people, we should be a nation that understands the aspirations and the plight of the immigrant worker, attracted by hopes of a better life and high wages, gradually settling into the receiving nation and wanting to settle.
There are solutions, not all of them very difficult to implement, and here are some that would go a long way towards integrating and welcoming immigrants:
A ministry of State for immigration and ethnic affairs should be established in the Department of the Taoiseach with responsibility for driving a robust, high-level cross-departmental process that would co-ordinate the work of all departments and agencies that have a brief in this area
The current system whereby the employer holds the work permit for his or her immigrant employees needs to be changed to a system where all forms of permission to work are issued to the employee.
This would empower the worker and allow him or her to change jobs if conditions are unsatisfactory, and it would indirectly force unscrupulous employers to change conditions of work in order to attract employees
Workers who come to Ireland for permanent jobs should be given permanent residence
Government policy should be changed to ensure that family members of all legal migrants have the right to join family members in Ireland
Spouses and partners who come here to join immigrant workers should be given the right to work
These rights should be enshrined in legislation
Particular initiatives are needed to address the educational, cultural and linguistic needs of migrant workers, in the context of a policy based on lifelong learning
Ireland should take a lead role and encourage EU member-states to ratify the UN International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, 1990, or at least to adopt its principles, and to manage immigration in a human-rights-centred way.
The lights flickering from our Christmas candles this year will be meaningless unless we embrace and welcome immigrants at all levels of our society, unless we put in place a system that respects and honours their rights.
Sister Stanislaus Kennedy is executive chairwoman of the Immigrant Council of Ireland