Oxfam Ireland urges Minister Flanagan to reverse restriction preventing refugees reuniting with family in Ireland

Move could help Ireland meet deadline to bring in 4,000 refugees by end of 2017

Criteria for family reunification was limited after pledge to take in more refugees

New UN refugee figures published today highlight massive scale of global crisis

Monday June 19th, 2017

Oxfam Ireland has called on the newly appointed Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan to urgently reverse a restriction devised in 2015 – following the Government’s promise to take in 4,000 refugees – which is preventing people seeking refuge from reuniting with relatives here.

The call follows the publication today of new statistics by the UN’s refugee agency UNHCR which show the massive scale of the global refugee crisis. The total number of people forcibly displaced is now at 65.6 million – an increase of 300,000 on the previous year.

Oxfam said re-instating a wider criteria for family reunification which was ended in a 2015 Act could help the Irish Government to deliver on its commitment to bring 4,000 refugees to Ireland by the end of 2017 – a deadline less than six months away. So far less than a third (1,259 as of May 15th) have arrived under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme with over 2,700 people languishing in camps in Italy and Greece still to come.

Oxfam Ireland Chief Executive Jim Clarken said: “It’s quite contradictory for the Government to pledge to resettle 4,000 refugees and then to change the laws and prevent certain family members from seeking refuge here. This is like building a bridge from one side while at the same time taking away the foundation stones from the other.

“In his previous ministry in the Department of Foreign Affairs, Minister Flanagan witnessed first-hand the impact of widespread conflict and persecution on people who were forced to flee their homes. Now he must ensure that Ireland plays its role in providing them with safety.

“It’s time to right the wrongs and reverse this poor decision that’s tearing families apart. Children are wrenched from their grandparents, siblings divided and extended family networks weakened. Families are forced to continue living apart after being separated during often perilous journeys to find safety – this is heaping trauma upon trauma on some of the most vulnerable people on the planet. Restrictive policies and practices across Europe mean refugees can find themselves stuck indefinitely in camps in places like Greece and Italy, just a short flight away from the relatives they long to be with.”

Responding to the publication of the UN’s new refugee figures, Jim Clarken added: “The war in Syria continues into its sixth year, tens of millions are caught in an unprecedented hunger crisis in South Sudan, East Africa, Yemen and north-east Nigeria, while other deadly violence and natural disasters force people from their homes around the globe.

“These new numbers underscore that the global community must immediately offer stronger lifelines to people as they flee for their lives, and also work together to tackle the root causes.”

As Oxfam published a new report today which shows how migration policies across Europe are keeping families apart, Oxfam urged the Government to reverse a change in law made by the 2015 International Protection Act which significantly restricts the ability of refugees to reach family members living in Ireland.

The Act narrowed the eligibility criteria which means refugees living here who want to bring family members to safety in Ireland through the asylum process can only apply for spouses and children or siblings under the age of 18. Those aged 18 and over are separated from parents and younger siblings, grandparents are separated from grandchildren and children travelling alone cannot reach extended family members settled in Ireland.

The previous 1996 Refugee Act granted a discretionary power to the Minister for the Justice which allowed for a wider definition of the family, i.e. any grandparent, parent, brother, sister, child, grandchild, ward or guardian of the refugee who is dependent on them or suffering from a mental or physical disability that means they cannot fully care for themselves.

Oxfam is calling on the Irish government to amend the 2015 International Protection Act to expand the definition of family to include young adults who are dependent on the family unit prior to flight, parents, siblings, in-laws and any other dependent relative. The agency says that at the very least the Minister’s discretionary power should be reinstated as per the 1996 Refugee Act.

Jim Clarken added: “Changing the rules on family reunification not only offers Ireland an opportunity to show leadership in upholding fundamental human rights and share responsibility for the global refugee crisis, but could also help to meet our existing obligations.”

While Ireland struggles to meet its pledge, Lebanon, a country half the size of Munster, currently hosts 1.2 million refugees from Syria. In Uganda, up to 3,000 refugees from South Sudan are arriving each day.

Oxfam’s new report Dear Family: How European Migration Policies are Keeping Families Apart, details the situation of refugee families in Europe, with a particular focus on Greece. It details the testimony of refugees and migrants who are desperately seeking to be reunited with their loved ones and shows how a narrow definition of ‘family’ in EU member states, including Ireland’s legislation alongside bureaucratic challenges, keep families apart.

As of May 2017, 35% of people benefiting from Oxfam’s legal aid programmes in Lesbos and Epirus were trying to reunite with family members in Europe. Several cases were reported to Oxfam in Greece of pregnant women who were transferred to other refugee camps, or even the mainland, while their partner was forced to stay behind in Moria, a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesvos, because they had no paperwork proving their relationship.

The report finds that many people in Greece, separated from loved ones in another EU member state, are becoming increasingly desperate. Most have been stranded in Greece for over a year, trying to navigate the asylum system and family reunification procedures, and often contemplating using smugglers in their attempt to move on.

Oxfam has been providing support to more than 6.7 million people in conflict-affected countries in the past year.

ENDS

Contact: Sorcha Nic Mhathúna, Oxfam Ireland, +353 83 1975 107 or sorcha.nicmhathuna@oxfamireland.org

Oxfam Ireland’s press releases are available at www.oxfamireland.org/press and follow @Media_OxfamIRL on Twitter for breaking news, spokesperson information and other updates