# Immigration
Last month
May 2023
# Joseph Okoh
What does Africa Day mean to Afro-Irish people living here today?
It’s a celebration of culture and a recognition of success, mixed with demands for better recognition and a reflection on what is happening in Sudan.
# anti-immigration protests
Garda union AGSI seeks clarity on the policing of protests as Clare blockade continues
The government and Garda management have been under mounting pressure over how anti-migration protests have been handled.
This year
2023
# Protest
Dublin Airport says traffic is 'returning to normal' after immigration protest
The airport had warned that people should “allow additional time” for their flight due to heavy traffic arising from the demonstration.
# Immigration
UK immigration policy will impact Ireland, says Taoiseach
Speaking to reporters in Washington DC today, Varadkar said he will be speaking to the British government about the issue.
Voices
Opinion: Identity politics dominated Britain's Brexit - let's not make the same mistakes
Peter Flanagan looks at our neighbours’ decision to leave the EU and whether we can learn the lessons here.
# Refugees
Irish immigration lawyers say Government needs to show 'actual leadership and compassion'
“It’s not possible to say ‘I want to apply for a visa so I can seek asylum.’”
Voices
Paul Murphy: Anti-refugee protests a far cry from grassroots 'no to water charges' campaigns
‘You’d have to have your head in the sand not to notice that Ireland’s emerging far-right is playing a crucial role here,’ writes the Dublin TD.
# demostrations
Varadkar on protests against refugees: 'We should know better. It's not the Irish way'
The Taoiseach said refugees genuinely fleeing war and oppression are welcome here.
# Podcast
The Explainer: How does Ireland's immigration system work?
Listen in to hear Nick Henderson of the Irish Refugee Council explain.
# Gino Kenny
Dublin TD says protesters told him 'they will come to my home and burn it down'
The People Before Profit deputy said he would not be intimidated by the threats.
# Home Secretary
Charity refuses to delete clip of Holocaust survivor confronting UK politician
UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who referred to migrants as ‘an invasion’, was accused of Nazi-like rhetoric by the activist.
Last year
2022
# factcheck
FactCheck newsletter: Covid, climate change and Ukraine dominated disinformation narratives in 2022
The ‘unholy trinity’ were prevalent throughout Europe this year.
THE MORNING LEAD
Fermoy latest town to be visited by anti-immigration campaigners and misinformation
Analysis: Activists exploiting the war and accommodation shortages by whipping up local community sentiment against asylum seekers.
After protests in East Wall, campaigners look to seize on anti-immigration sentiment.
Cork man Derek Blighe has undertaken a tour of the country over the past month to take part in anti-immigration rallies.
Fermoy locals hitting back with counter protest today.
Voices
Lynn Ruane: Some refugees are vilified for being from certain places or because they are men
Whether it is sinister actors or simply those with misplaced fears, many now seem comfortable asserting a hierarchy of who is worthy of protection, Senator Lynn Ruane writes.
# Manston Detention Centre
‘Shut Manston down’ – hundreds protest outside UK migrant centre in pouring rain
It comes after the centre in Kent was revealed to be dangerously overcrowded.
# UK
UK police: 'Extreme right wing motivation behind firebomb attack' on immigration centre
Two staff were injured after homemade incendiary devices were thrown at a centre in Dover last Sunday.
# France
French far-right MP suspended for 15 days after racist comment
Carlos Martens Bilongo said he was ‘deeply hurt’ by the remark.
# Paris
Uproar in French parliament after MP accused of racially abusing colleague during migration debate
In French the pronouns ‘he’ and ‘they’ are pronounced the same, suggesting that de Fournas might have been targeting Bilongo directly
# Asylum Seekers
UK immigration centre a ‘prison’, migrants say, as they beg for help with message in a bottle
A young girl threw a letter in a bottle over the fence of the Kent processing centre to a PA news agency photographer
# English Channel
UK immigration office handling asylum seekers firebombed
One person was injured in this morning’s attack
# UK
How has the European Court of Human Rights grounded the UK’s Rwanda plan?
The first flight due to send asylum seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda did not take off following an interim ruling by the Strasbourg court.
# rwanda policy
Last-ditch bid to block deportation flight from UK to Rwanda rejected
The UK’s Court of Appeal judges rejected a legal bid to block the first flight due to relocate asylum seekers under a controversial new policy.
# UK
‘No Rwanda’ protest staged at immigration removal centre
The immigration policy has come in for criticism from various groups.
# Refugees
Ireland could develop two-tier treatment of asylum seekers, Refugee Council warns
Large numbers of people are currently sleeping on the floor of the Red Cow Moran hotel due to a lack of resources for asylum seekers.
# Ukraine
Ukraine refugees to be allowed register at regional immigration hubs under new law
The new legislation will remove the current requirement to travel to Dublin.
Voices
Larry Donnelly: Why hasn’t the far-right risen in Ireland?
Ireland’s history of emigration has made most of us resistant to anti-immigration rhetoric, our columnist writes.
# Immigration
Rwanda president says UK asylum seeker deal 'not trading in humans'
The agreement has attracted criticism from rights groups, opposition figures in Britain and Rwanda, and the United Nations.
# Immigration
UK's Rwanda immigration policy ‘about saving this Government’s skin’, says charity
Priti Patel unveiled the Government’s new direction over immigration this week.
# Undocumented
Regularisation scheme for undocumented immigrants opens today
For the next six months, people living in Ireland without documentation will be able to apply for permission to stay here.
All time
# Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel says Germany has ‘managed’ migrant influx
The German chancellor is preparing to step down
# TGIP
Irish MEPs criticise Poland for pushing migrants back at new border wall with Belarus
Poland is also refusing to host any Afghan refugees, labelling them as ‘challenges to the traditional makeup of their society’.
Gráinne Ní Aodha asked all 13 Irish MEPs for their thoughts on the EU's response to the border wall in Poland.
One Irish MEP said that what Poland was doing was "no better than what Trump was trying to do along the US-Mexico border", and that the EU should condemn it.
This month, The Good Information Project will focus on migration and the EU.
# Organised Crime
Cash, mobile phones and documents seized in Garda raids targeting people trafficking
The search is the latest in a series of raids targeting alleged members of an organised crime gang.
# uk residency
There will be 'no extension’ on deadline for post-Brexit residency scheme for EU nationals
EU citizens and their families have been asked to apply to the Home Office scheme by 30 June.
# Common travel loophole
Crime gangs are exploiting the Irish-UK common travel area to bypass Brexit border checks
The organised crime groups are exploiting a 100-year-old agreement between Ireland and England to bypass Brexit imposed checks.
Organised crime groups have been exploiting a 100-year-old agreement between Ireland and England to bypass Brexit imposed border checks.
# CROSS BORDER PROBE
Three men arrested in Dublin and Wicklow raids targeting a gang facilitating illegal immigration
Gardaí made three arrests during searches at six properties in Wicklow and Dublin.
# covid-19 pandemic
Non-EU doctors call for all frontline workers' citizenship applications to be fasttracked
Doctors have written to all TDs and senators asking for their citizenship to be fasttracked as a gesture for their work during the pandemic.
Voices
Maeve Higgins: The State cannot say it values migrant workers while it pushes them out the door
Maeve Higgins says Ireland’s home care assistants and other migrant workers perform a vital service and should be given proper immigration status.
# Wexford
Man charged after two people found concealed in truck at Rosslare port
Gardaí said both of the people found in the truck have been offered accommodation and welfare services.
Voices
Ivana Bacik: Children who are born in Ireland belong here
Labour Senator Ivana Bacik says the 2004 referendum has caused needless suffering and she’s asking the Government to back a new Bill addressing this issue.
# Reform
'I felt as if I have done a crime': Pakistani man says immigration officials read personal texts to his wife to verify his relationship
The Imigration Council of Ireland said the whole system needs an overhaul.
