OscailtRefugees At Hostel on Kinsale Road ProtestAn Eye-Witness Account Of Demo And What Led To It.
Breaking news: Italian MP, Sgarbi denounces the Statistical Fraud on COVID-19. The speech of the Member of Parliament Vittorio Sgarbi in the session of the Italian Camera, Meeting no. 331 of Friday 24, April, 2020. Vittorio Sgarbi, denounces the closure of 60% of the businesses for 25,000 COVID-19 Deaths, of which the National Institute of Health says 96.3% died NOT of COVID-19 but of other pathologies. That means only 925 have died of the virus. 24,075 have died of other things.2006-04-11T20:26:14+00:00Indymedia Irelandimc-ireland@lists.indymedia.iehttp://www.indymedia.ie/atomfullposts?story_id=75383http://www.indymedia.ie/graphics/feedlogo.gifgood jobhttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1455962006-04-11T20:26:14+00:00spidergreat stuff. any chance of seeing some photos, or for more information on the ac...great stuff. any chance of seeing some photos, or for more information on the action taken?the true storyhttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1456252006-04-12T00:41:47+00:00leesiderThe Irish Examiner dealt with this matter at some length at the end of March. Un...The Irish Examiner dealt with this matter at some length at the end of March. Unlike indynews, the Examiner interviewed both residents and management.<br />
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Your interviewee (not helped by a series of leading questions from the juvenile who you sent to interview him) is economical with the truth wherever it doesn't suit. Much of the background to this (very small kerfluffel) is omitted.<br />
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Two things I will mention. 1. There was no community support present at this incident. The only persons affected were motorists on the Cork-Airport-Kinsale Road who were rightly pissed off at this tantrum by the residents of the hotel and were not shy in expressing their feelings. 2. Your intervevee has some rather politically incorrect views - bordering on racist at times - of south americans and eastern europeans.Whats the alternative?http://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1457092006-04-12T18:10:13+00:00ObserverPerhaps you could explain what the alternative to an 'amnesty' would be. Forgive...Perhaps you could explain what the alternative to an 'amnesty' would be. Forgive me if I'm wrong but isn't there a process that an asylum seeker goes through and if his/her claim is false and they are deported then are they obliged to return to the state?This interview is the balancehttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1457142006-04-12T18:48:58+00:00Ray - Cork WSM (pers. cap.)In response to 'leesider', it is worth pointing out that the Evening Echo gave o...In response to 'leesider', it is worth pointing out that the Evening Echo gave over the whole front page on Saturday 1st April to the views of management, a courtesy not extended to the residents of Kinsale Road DP centre. In fact, Neither the Irish Examiner nor the Evening Echo carried any interview or opinion from residents, to the best of my knowledge. The Irish Examiner and the Irish Times did carry a statement from the director of Nasc, an immigrant and asylum seeker's support centre, but that's not quite the same as getting the views of residents there. It is also worth noting that the Reception and Integration Agency officer responsible for managing/supervising Direct Provision centres in the Cork/Kerry region is a former prison governor. The state has taken the approach of effectively criminalising asylum seekers (without formally doing so by law) and inflicting a prison-type regime on them. The entire mainstream of the media and politics is happy to go along with this, since this gives them another easily-identifiable scapegoat to get exercised about when wroth with indignation (and when in need of a populist issue to either get votes or sell papers).<br />
The situation in the Kinsale Road centre remains unresolved. While negotiations are happening, it is hard to see the culture and attitude of the Reception and Integration Agency changing in any substantial way following this incident. There are lessons to be learned here, but when the person in ultimate charge is an uneducable upper-class bigot with media exposure issues (yes, I mean Marvellous Mickey), the odds are that these will remain unlearned. In the meantime, people will continue to suffer under the wilful paranoia and hostility which seem to be the hallmarks of the Irish asylum system.responseshttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1457182006-04-12T19:06:22+00:00RobbieSSpider:
Thanks. I called again this morning and there was a non-committal reacti...<strong>Spider:</strong><br />
Thanks. I called again this morning and there was a non-committal reaction to posting the photos. Unfortuneately, many in Ireland aren’t acquainted the the open-publishing facilities of www.indymedia.ie. <br />
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<strong>Leesider:</strong> The interview, as much as anything, is supposed to reflect life in a hostel from a refugee’s perspective. This is necessarilly subjective, but the residents/inmates obviously felt strongly enough to protest in the first place. Madu’s perspective would have been mitigated somewhat if I’d asked the management to join the interview, especially given the reprechment or truce that apparently has held since the protests. <br />
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I take your point on leading questions, but again, I wasn’t trying to challenge, but to get Madu to tell his story. Ideally, he could have published it on indymedia himself, where it could get peer rewviews (such as your comment). I like the motto voice for the voiceless, and listening improves understanding. <br />
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Madu wasn’t speaking specifically about the demo when he spoke about support from the local community. There may have been local/s at the protest.<br />
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There’s nothing racist about having a preference to food your used to. <br />
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The “juveile” stuff doesn’t dignify a response, but Madu contacted me on March 31st. I send myself along to present the voluntary community radio programme every Thursday.<br />
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<strong>Observer:</strong><br />
Amnesty is not mentioned anywhere and this article isn’t about that. it’s about Madu’s experience of conditions in these holding centres. In the interview (if you’ve actually read or listened to it), Madu’s case is currently due to go before the High Court. <br />
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Here’s the link, I know you’ll be interested.<br />
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Great Interviewhttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1457272006-04-12T19:37:42+00:00Emma-RAR/WSM per capThe direct provision programme asylum seekers are forced to live under is a disg...The direct provision programme asylum seekers are forced to live under is a disgrace and demoralising for a person who has to live under these conditions, and this isn't the first time asylum seekers have protested against this, one hostel in Limerick last year this paticular hostel in Foynes was closed down by health and safety then re-opened as the family run business had connections with the justice department and PD's women had to come up to mount street in Dublin because the living conditions were horrific rust and filthy washing facilities they had to boil water before they could drink it and there was no doors on bathrooms or bedrooms women and children had no privacy and they were treated to regular abuse by management and had problems with the food too. <br />
And then to top it all off the great workers in mount street locked the doors and would not allow them to enter the building and they had no where to stay until they went to a garda station which had to allocate them accomadation for the night the following day the same thing happened they were locked out of the building the department refused to relocate them to a safer and cleaner living conditions.<br />
Other hostels have experienced similar circumstances in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Dublin so it is not a once off thing it is great to see people taking action for themselves and I hope everything works out for the residents of the hostel.<br />
Real Refugee Camps Anyone?http://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1457412006-04-12T22:38:09+00:00DonPerhaps a look at life in an African refugee camp might put this "protest" into ...Perhaps a look at life in an African refugee camp might put this "protest" into perspective:<br />
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<a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/africa/jan-june04/refugees_05-13.html" title="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/africa/jan-june04/refugees_05-13.html">http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/africa/jan-june04/refuge....html</a><br />
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(In the relative safety of Chad's refugee camps, the day usually begins around 5:00 am. Women like Jamila Numere start a daunting pursuit of life's most basic needs. Water comes from a hastily dug, shallow well. <br />
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Behind the people at the well are donkeys, prized beasts of burden. But their needs must come second. There's simply not enough water to go around. The stench of death is everywhere. One of relief worker Gillian Dunn's top priorities has been to burn thousands of animal carcasses.)<br />
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(GILLIAN DUNN: And they're running out of things that they brought from Sudan, so people are reverting to other mechanisms. They're eating berries that usually are eaten only by goats. They're selling whatever they have in the market. They're doing little, you know, small enterprise projects to get some money to buy some food. But every day it's a struggle just to find food and water.)<br />
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Pers Cap - These "protestors", the majority of them well fed and travelled and far from refugees, are a bloody disgrace and their protest is an insult to real refugees who couldnt in their wildest dreams imagine the extravagant lifestyle handed them on a plate in a foreign country.<br />
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The criminalisation of migrationhttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1457522006-04-13T00:20:21+00:00PaulRobbie, heard the interview on near fm. It is a good thing to give voices to the...Robbie, heard the interview on near fm. It is a good thing to give voices to the unheard. <br />
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What I took from the interview was the determination of those who designed the asylum process to down grade all posible pull factors into the country. I do not believe that the lack of respect to peoples cultural preferences (e.g. food) is a failure of the system, it is a deliberate policy to rob people of any dignity with the ultimate aim to force them out of the country or agree to drop their asylum claim and accept deportation placidly. <br />
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From the interview it seemed obvious that there was plenty of talent within the asylum group to do their own cooking, but the management for some reason (provide paid employment for the local community...perhaps) refuse to utilise free (financially) talent, this is not a natural capitalistic act. To do this, the management would be giving dignity to a worker (and by extension give other asylum seekers the freedom of choice) and allow their own employees to ensure that they stay with an unchallenging/lazy menu. All consequently bored out of their minds. <br />
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The only good thing is that the asylum process is so long that few deportations take place most often because people have succeded against the odds to put down roots in their respective communities which of course is totally contrary to the Department of justice, Equality and Law reform unstated policy which in my opinion is designed to prevent any asylum seeker (lack of finance, create the lazy asylum seeker caricature, etc) to make any social links with the wider community. thanks for the interview - hope to see morehttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1457552006-04-13T00:27:01+00:00redjadeadditional Hypocrisy surrounding all this is that the Irish Govt is currently fu...additional Hypocrisy surrounding all this is that the Irish Govt is currently funding organisations in the US to allow the illegal Irish to stay in America - I'm all for that, myself - but the Hypocrisy reeks...<br />
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<strong>Bertie funds Open Borders organisation</strong><br />
23 January 2006 <br />
Minister Ahern announces grant of €30,000.00 for Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform<br />
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Dermot Ahern TD, Minister for Foreign Affairs, today announced a grant of €30,000 to support the work of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) in the United States. The grant is a further indication of the Government's strong support for measures which would grant legal residence status to undocumented Irish living in the US.<br />
<a href="http://www.indymedia.ie/article/74885" title="http://www.indymedia.ie/article/74885">http://www.indymedia.ie/article/74885</a>Meanwhile in Australia....http://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1457732006-04-13T08:34:07+00:00OZThe Free the Refugees movement in Australia were mobilising nationaly this Easte...The Free the Refugees movement in Australia were mobilising nationaly this Easter at the Villawood Detention Centre based in Sydney. Previous Easter mobilisations have been at Woomera (now closed) and Baxter Detention Centres in the South Australia desert. Nonviolent direct action at the Woomera detention centre freed a number of refugees a few years ago. The living conditions, mental illness and indefinite detention have become inter/national scandals.<br />
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In response to the mobilisation the State this week have emptied Villawood, moving refugees to a military base, state prisons and Baxter. Asbestos problems are claimed to be evident at Villawood, this only became a problem with the prospect of bringing hundreds of police into the vicinity.<br />
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Meanwhile the government past legislation yesterday in respnse to the recent arrival of West Papuans in a canoe to north Queensland. The Papuans are escaping a crackdown by the Indonesian military. New legislation states that even if refugees land on mainland Australia they will be processed offshore in Naru and other off shore sites. The grand tradition of Australian appeasment of the Indonesian military continues as does training of the elite Koppasus unit by the Australian SAS.ppm... asylum system...http://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1458332006-04-13T16:40:00+00:00MaxiLook at the geographical location of this country. Its merely possible for a Nig...Look at the geographical location of this country. Its merely possible for a Nigerian to get here directly unless of course he/she climbs on the back of the Nigerian presidents plane anytime he is coming to visit Ireland on a diplomatic visit. Furthermore, the Dublin convention applies to these cases. <br />
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(1) There are no direct flights between Nigeria and Ireland.<br />
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(2) Ireland cannot be reached without either passing through Britain or another European country once they have landed in the E.U.<br />
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I trust this will be helpful to you.<br />
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redjadedhttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1458752006-04-13T22:18:22+00:00phmIt is not hypocracy for the Irish government to lobby on behalf of Irish illegal...It is not hypocracy for the Irish government to lobby on behalf of Irish illegals in the US.<br />
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It is perfectly fair and understandable for Irish politicians to lobby for Irish people wherever they are.<br />
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Similarily, if Nigerian politicians wish to lobby for their illegals in Ireland. That's their business.<br />
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However, in each case, Ireland and the US will decide these matters for their respective nations in accordance with what the democratically elected legislators believe is in the best interests of their own country and people.<br />
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It is quite consistent and logical, where because of the extremely different population-ratios in each case (130 into 4 Vs 4 into 280 millions), very different conclusions might be reached by the US and Irish legislators as to where the balance of the common good lies.responses to Don and Maxihttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1458792006-04-13T23:56:28+00:00RobbieSDon:It might be glib to say it, but two wrongs don't mae a right. We can afford ...<strong>Don:</strong>It might be glib to say it, but two wrongs don't mae a right. We can afford better standards than war-torn Chad. Have we no self-respect? <br />
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<strong>Maxi: </strong>Apart from the political and religious push factors, Madu is here because he was taught by Irish nuns (one of whom he met in Rathmines before he was sent down to the Kinsale Road). <br />
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No matter what route others took, or reason for it, no-one deserves to be dehumanized. There is no excuse for us not affording basic dignity and human respect to anyone who comes here. As Paul says, this ain't about cost, it's about criminalising the hostel-dwellers. Yet another of our shames.LINK-Photod & Report from Easter Action at Australian Refugee Detention Centrehttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1459832006-04-15T04:04:22+00:00OZCheck this link for photos & report of the start of Easter actions in Sydney aga...Check this link for photos & report of the start of Easter actions in Sydney against refugee detentions in Australia....<br />
<a href="http://sydney.indymedia.org/node/36530" title="http://sydney.indymedia.org/node/36530">http://sydney.indymedia.org/node/36530</a><br />
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Check Sydney indymedia for further updates and reports over the Easter weekend.Re OZhttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1460142006-04-15T17:44:34+00:00WaspSo its 'lawful' to allow refugees roam around the country during their applicati...So its 'lawful' to allow refugees roam around the country during their application like it was a holiday they were on?They are refugees not criminalhttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1461152006-04-16T19:42:18+00:00KillianWasp, they are refugees not criminals.
A refugee is any person who is outside an...Wasp, they are refugees not criminals.<br />
A refugee is any person who is outside any country of such person's nationality or, in the case of a person having no nationality, is outside any country in which such person last habitually resided, and who is unable or unwilling to return to, and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of, that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.<br />
Last Commenthttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1461182006-04-16T20:22:35+00:00Johnathan MellbergKillian,
Thank's for the copy & paste job.....you are forgetting something impo...Killian,<br />
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Thank's for the copy & paste job.....you are forgetting something important here - they are not refugees! They are asylum seekers, the reason they are not allowed to roam the country is because they tend to disappear if they are not monitored. You say they are not criminals (I’m sure most are not); we in my profession have to establish whether they are. Proper investigation is required so that all cases can be dealt within the targeted timeframe.Monitoring whathttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1461912006-04-17T15:53:55+00:00KillianJonathan, Wasp called them refugees. If they want to disappear there is absolute...Jonathan, Wasp called them refugees. If they want to disappear there is absolutely nothing we can do to stop them. Putting them in an Hostel and telling them to sign with a representative of the department of Justice every morning can hardly be called monitoring. Please Jonathan we need to revise our ways of doing things. I am not saying we should bind their hands because as I said earlier they are not criminals but I am sure there are processes and procedures we can put in place to ensure that these asylum seekers do not melt into the crowd whenever their applications fail.Killianhttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1462032006-04-17T19:03:13+00:00Johnathan MellbergKillian,
From now on refer you should refer to these people as Asylum seekers -...Killian,<br />
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From now on refer you should refer to these people as Asylum seekers - they have not obtained refugee status. TBH the hostel scheme is in line with current international practice. Asylum seekers in France are put into detention camps - would you prefer this? There is no way the government will ever go back to funding Apartments for these people, the Asylum process currently costs 1million Euro per day to run, it would be far more if we went back to that scheme. We in my area of work require access to these individuals - with them being in 1 place (hostel) it is far cheaper and wastes less of our time. If they are genuine refugess they will have experienced far worse than this!Lets Face the Factshttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1462212006-04-17T21:36:53+00:00ConstanceAccording to Dept of Justice, over 6,000 Asylum Applicants have simply disappear...According to Dept of Justice, over 6,000 Asylum Applicants have simply disappeared into the woodwork here in recent years. Nobody seems quite sure to where.<br />
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It is an unfortunate fact too that of the almost 72,000 asylum applications lodged here in recent years, more than 80% of them were subsequently found (according to best UN practice) to be without foundation. <br />
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At least 1- Billion Euros of Irish Taxpayers monies has needlessly been squandered in the processing of unfounded Asylum claims in recent years. I think most will agree that with an average 80% asylum failure rate it can only point to a systematic and deliberate abuse of the asylum system, something which should neither be encouraged nor supported.<br />
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Most people I believe, would much prefer if that money were instead allocated to those less fortunate people in the third world who through their dire day to day poverty could simply never afford to pay human traffickers to bring them to Europe in the first place. Many of whom are children, and who go to bed every night with empty bellies. <br />
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But with such ridiculously high levels of asylum abuse, not just here, but equally across many other EU countries , can there be any wonder when Governments and their citizenry become less sympathetic and protective of their Asylum system as a consequence? <br />
Follow the money trailhttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1462832006-04-18T14:08:59+00:00PaulConstance,
of course the money should be spent on the third world to prevent pu...Constance,<br />
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of course the money should be spent on the third world to prevent push factors of illegal migration. That of course never happens. When money is invested it often compounds the corruption structures rather than poverty relief. Even when good projects are instigated the objectives are undermined by IMF and the World bank (read american) selective liberalisation policies and the misuse of any available natural resources to benefit the elite rather than the public good.<br />
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In regards to the money invested in the asylum process I would contend that the majority goes into the pockets of a few Irish people. This ensures that the Irish asylum process benefits the Irish asylum industry rather than prioritising those in real need. See how little the "leave to remain on humanitarian grounds" is utilised.Re Killianhttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1463102006-04-18T16:59:33+00:00Wasp/ they are refugees not criminals /
If you look at my comment, I never said tha.../ they are refugees not criminals /<br />
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If you look at my comment, I never said that they were 'criminals'. However I did ask if the experience of asylum seeking should be like a holdiay experience? Also, how do we know that their cases are real? All we have are 'claims' so far. <br />
They do not stay herehttp://www.indymedia.ie/article/75383#comment1463752006-04-19T09:55:07+00:00KillianThese failed asylum seekers do not remain here in Ireland when their Asylum appl...These failed asylum seekers do not remain here in Ireland when their Asylum applications fail instead they find their way to the UK or a larger European country where it is easier for them to be illegal. If there is something I am happy for it is the fact that our system makes it impossible for them to remain here as illegals.<br />