‘Insidious’ racism and ‘outright lies’ being spread about asylum seekers, warns O’Gorman

The State has seen “an insidious thread of racism, xenophobia and fearmongering” emerge over the past six months, the Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman has said.

Mr O’Gorman said there has been misinformation and “outright lies” spread on social media and in communities across the country in relation to people fleeing war and for their own safety.

“The vilification of men, in particular, who come here seeking international protection: some of these men have been tortured, some have been exploited and they come here seeking refuge, and they have denigrated as something other, something to be feared,” he told the Dáil.

The chamber heard statements on Thursday afternoon on the co-ordination of services for those seeking protection in Ireland.

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The Minister for Justice Simon Harris announced an extension of the Temporary Protection permissions granted to people fleeing the war in Ukraine.

It means that any Ukrainian citizen fleeing the war can get protection in Ireland and those here already will have protection for a further 12 months to March 2024. Mr Harris said it was a “moral imperative” that Irish people continue to help Ukrainians.

“This will give reassurance to the people who have sought shelter and security here from the war in Ukraine that they will have continued access to the supports that they need. It also provides certainty to the various organisations involved in providing those supports of the future requirements and expectations,” he said.

“I hope that today’s announcement also provides certainty to employers, many of whom are benefitting from the skills and labour of people who have arrived here from Ukraine.”

Mr O’Gorman said there had been protests outside people’s homes, “protesting against vulnerable children, where those children are too terrified to look outside their own windows”.

His views were echoed in comments made by the Minister for Health Simon Donnelly at a reception by the European Movement Ireland to honour the Irish head of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) Emer Cooke.

Mr Donnelly said it was wrong to believe that Ireland was immune to the polarisation of politics that has occurred in the United States and the UK.

He said people had sought to link refugees with housing and health. “We need to be very careful not to legitimise racism. You can see the rise of the far-right here,” he said.

“We have seen grown men and women protesting outside places where children are fleeing war. There is no place for that in this country.”

The Green Party TD, Mr O’Gorman said more than 70,000 people had come to Ireland from Ukraine, alongside 15,000 new international protection applicants. He said the first modular homes for refugees would be rolled out in the coming weeks.

“My department can and will do more to develop further accommodation options, including building and buying properties,” he added.

[ How the political mood music on asylum issue is changing ]

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said although he believed migration was a good thing, “it must be properly managed” and that the public expected this.

Mr Varadkar said the State had to be firm with “those who come here with a false story or under false pretences”.

“Criminal gangs should never decide who enters our country,” he said. “That is for us to decide, not human traffickers.”

The Taoiseach added that Ireland had “done more than any other country in western Europe” to accommodate Ukrainian refugees and “we are proud to have done so”. “We will turn nobody away,” he said.

The Fine Gael leader said in recent weeks there had been “very aggressive campaigns” directed against newcomers designed to create divisions in society.

“Unscrupulous individuals and groups are preying on legitimate concerns and weaponising them to inspire fear and hatred, while others see it as a political opportunity to promote their party or even their ideology,” he said. “This should not be. We should all stand together against fear, hate and conspiracy theories. We should do so on a non-partisan and non-ideological basis, a nation standing together against racism.”

[ Gardaí monitoring activity of prominent far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson ]

Tánaiste Micheál Martin said when looking at some recent public demonstrations, “I think we all need to make sure that we do nothing to inflame delicate situations”.

“The populist approach of always presenting everything as being about the elite or the Government being responsible never brings anything positive and can be dangerous at moments when some seek to exploit public concerns,” he said. “Angry intimidation of people you disagree with has no place in a free democracy such as ours.”

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the lack of accommodation for refugees was entirely predictable as the “housing system in our State is broken”.

“What we have seen from Government is a failure to prepare and put in place a coherent, workable plan that meets the scale of the crisis,” she said.

“Far from implementing an all-of-Government approach, it seems very clear that Minister O’Gorman has effectively been left to deal with this crisis on his own.

“Instead of government taking responsibility, what we see are Ministers acting as spectators and commentators. We see an approach that is defined by panic and lack of organisation.”