The Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) today strongly welcomed the concluding comments of the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) on Ireland’s record on combating racial discrimination.
The UN CERD Committee examined Ireland’s 3rd and 4th combined periodic reports on its efforts to meet its human rights obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) on 22 and 23 February 2011 in Geneva.
Dr Maurice Manning, President of the IHRC said
"We very much welcome the Concluding Observations made today by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The concluding observations of the CERD Committee reflect many of the recommendations that the Irish Human Rights Commission made to the Committee in our written submission and which we raised directly with the Committee in the course of the hearing on Ireland’s State Report."
Dr Manning continued,
"We welcome the Committee’s recognition of the severity of the budget cuts inflicted on the human rights and equality infrastructure and its recommendation that budget cuts should not result in limitation of our activities. We also note its recommendation to the Irish State ensure that the functions of bodies such as the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI) be fully taken over by existing or new independent bodies. In particular, we note the recommendation of the Committee to ensure there are mechanisms for the reporting of racist incidents and crimes."
Travellers have experienced racial discrimination for generations. Dr Manning said
"I hope the State will act without delay on the recommendations of the Committee to work concretely towards recognising Travellers as an ethnic group and to ensure that specific measures are taken to improve the livelihoods of Travellers including in the areas of education, health and accommodation. We also welcome the recommendations to ensure Traveller participation fully in public life."
The IHRC highlighted concerns about the need to safeguard the rights of asylum seekers while having their application processed. Mr Éamonn Mac Aodha, IHRC Chief Executive said
"we raised with the Committee our concerns at the length of time people were spending in Direct Provision. We therefore very much welcome the Committee’s recommendation that the State should expedite the processing of applications so that asylum seekers do not spend unreasonable amounts of time in Direct Provision Centres, and that measures should be taken to improve living conditions, including a review of the Direct Provision system."
Mr Mac Aodha continued
"The IHRC also raised with the Committee the issue of the requirement for foreign nationals to carry identification documents. This is not a requirement for Irish people and the IHRC considers that requiring foreign nationals to carry identification and produce it when requested by a Garda has the potential to lead to discriminatory treatment against certain categories of people. We were concerned that this measure may also have an impact on Irish citizens from racial, ethnic and religious minorities. We therefore welcome the Committee’s recommendations that the State should adopt legislation to ensure the prohibition of racial profiling and that it should ensure the promotion of fair treatment of migrants and people of non-Irish origin."
The IHRC also reported to the Committee on need for human rights education and training for the Civil and Public Service to be mainstreamed. Dr Manning said
"we very much welcome the recommendation by the Committee that the State should develop a coordinated work-plan with the IHRC to promote our Human Rights Education and Training Project and to roll it out across the Civil and Public Service. We also welcome the support and strong engagement of Government Departments, Local Authorities, the Police and Defence Forces, among others, in this training to date, and look forward to strengthened engagement into the future".
Ends/
For further information please contact
Fidelma Joyce, IHRC
Mob: 087 783 4939
Notes to the Editor:
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by its State parties. Ireland signed the CERD Convention in 1968 and ratified the Convention in December 2000. All States parties to the Convention are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee on how the rights contained in the Convention are being implemented. States must initially report one year after acceding to the Convention and then every two years. The Committee examines each report and addresses its concerns and recommendations to the State party in the form of "concluding observations". Ireland’s combined 3rd and 4th Reports to the CERD Committee was considered on 22 and 23 February 2011 in Geneva. As Ireland’s National Human Rights Institution, the IHRC is entitled to submit a report to the CERD Committee and has a role to play in relation to the examination of the State Report.
IHRC Recommendations raised with the CERD Committee during its consideration of the State’s Report:
Human Rights & Equality Infrastructure
- Severe cuts to the human rights & equality infrastructure is having a negative impact on monitoring and combating racial discrimination in Ireland.
Non-denominational & Multi-denominational Schools
- 98% of Irish primary schools are under religious patronage. There should be an adequate choice in the range of primary and post-primary schools available in keeping with the increased diversity and changing nature of Irish society. The statutory option of withdrawing children from religious instruction in classes is difficult to exercise in practice, particularly in rural areas and where the curriculum is integrated as is the case in the primary schools.
- Legislative and policy changes are required to ensure that people of non-faith and from religious minorities are not deterred from training as teachers or taking up employment as teachers.
Traveller Community
- The Traveller Community experience high levels of racial discrimination, yet they are not recognised as an ethnic minority. Refusal to recognise Travellers as an ethnic minority suggests a lack of understanding by the Government of the importance Travellers place on the recognition of their culture and identity. The lack of recognition may also place obstacles in the way Travellers access protections under international human rights conventions.
- Educational attainment among Travellers is extremely low compared to the general population. Adequate resources are needed to implement the National Traveller Education Strategy. Traveller organisations are not sufficiently represented in the monitoring and implementation of the strategy.
- Travellers experience much poorer health than the general population. Greater investment is needed in Traveller Health Strategies to reverse this trend. The life expectancy of Traveller men is less than 62 years, 15 years below the national average. Traveller infants were found to be 3.6 times more likely to die than infants in the general population. Suicide rates are 6.6 times higher than in the general population.
- Not enough good quality halting sites are being provided to the Traveller Community by local authorities. In such circumstances criminal trespass may be being applied disproportionately. This law criminalises trespass on public land in circumstances where public authorities have systematically failed in their statutory obligations to house Traveller families.
- Traveller organisations need to be more involved and represented in policy and decision-making forums at national and local level.
Asylum Seekers in Direct Provision
- Direct provision payments are not adequate to meet the basic needs of people seeking asylum.
- People remain too long in the asylum process, recent figures showed that more than one third spend 3 years in direct provision.
- High incidences of poor mental health are of concern as are the negative impacts of the prohibition on work, limited access to education and the resulting social isolation.
- Asylum seekers who become homeless have no safety-net. Homeless asylum seekers are not entitled to emergency social welfare supports available to other homeless people.
Detention of Asylum Seekers and Immigrants
- Prisons and police stations are not suitable places for the detention for asylum applicants who have not been convicted of a criminal offence. People should only be detained in suitable centres pending deportation where there is a real risk they will abscond and such detention should be as short as possible.
- Ireland approves refugee status for the lowest number of applications in the EU (14 out of 1,014 up to July 2010). In addition, proposals in the 2010 Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill aim to limit applicants time to appeal such decisions to 14 days.
Security Procedures and Practices on Entry to the State
- Clearer criteria must be put in place for decisions made by Immigration Officers in relation to immigrants’ entry into the State. The vague criteria applied in cases of refusal of leave to land should be removed from the Statute book.
- The requirement for foreign nationals to carry identification documents has the potential to lead to discriminatory treatment against people on grounds such as colour, race or other distinguishing characteristics such as religious dress. This measure may also have an impact on Irish citizens from racial, ethnic and religious minorities.
Migrant Workers
- The Government should ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.
- Vulnerable migrant workers need greater legislative and policy protections, especially those working in the hospitality industry, rural workers, especially those working in agriculture, and women migrant workers, particularly those working in domestic households.
- Principles governing family reunification for different categories of migrant workers should be elaborated in primary legislation taking into account the requirements of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the protection of private and family life.
- Family reunification should be dealt with in a positive, humane and expeditious manner, and the "best interests of child assessment" should form an integral part of the family reunification determination where applicable.