Slí Chaol (the narrow way)

pic: Irish Mirror The outbreak of war in the Ukraine in February 2022 took the world by surprise. What has been, perhaps, just as surprising is the tenacity and capacity of those fighting for Ukraine to hold out against Russian aggression.  Thankfully, the conflict has not escalated, so far, to other countries and regions.  Two things seems clear: no end to the war is in sight and living in Ukraine is no fun at the moment. The European context A decision to admit Ukrainian refugees on the basis of the cross-EU Temporary Protection Directive has given rights of residence, employment, study and access to social welfare more or less in line with what might be offered to citizens from the EU.  Refugees from the Ukraine are termed Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTP). This decision made at EU level in the immediate aftermath of the outbreak of war is an important sign as well as a practical humanitarian gesture by EU States. It is a political act of solidarity on the p...

A frequent trope by the Far Right is that asylum seekers are really not here because of who they say they are. Rather, they are here because of economic reasons including Ireland's offer of housing, welfare and other services.  Words such as 'illegal', 'economic' and 'undocumented' are very often conflated.  As outlined in my last weekly blog, asylum seekers are here under international and domestic law which affords such people (they are people) the right to seek refuge in this country pending an assessment of their case. Until that case is concluded with a positive or negative outcome they are neither illegal or undocumented.  It is as simple as that.  Answering the claim about their true motives for seeking entry to Ireland (economic/non-economic) is more difficult. Clearly, economic factors are relevant to any decision to cross continents, seas and land. However, personal safety is surely a major factor. Separating out the various factors in each individ...

  pic: San Diego Union Tribune  https://bit.ly/3Vgonwv In last week’s blog I examined the claim that ‘Ireland is full’. This week, I tackle a similar but different claim that ‘Immigration is out of control’. I start with some personal experiences and insights followed by a consideration of the legal context for inward migration and concluding with some statistics. I will show that the bulk of inward migration, at least up to 2022, is economic, educational or family related on the part of persons who are entitled to live and work here under EU internal market rules or under the temporary protection directive extended to refugees from the Ukraine. The notion that Ireland has ‘open borders’ is patently not true by any stretch. In the case of the relatively small but growing number of IP asylum seekers the rules around application and vetting are rigorous and the conditions in which applicants are living range from appalling to the outright inhuman. You may wish to skip directly ...

  When is a country full?   Does it depend on physical space, wealth, income, political will, cultural openness or something else?   Is there a fixed law or norm determining fullness?   Can we ‘afford’ another 10%, 20% or more of population?   And what is ‘affordability’ dependent on? The answer is in how we arrange our institutions and society and how we govern ourselves. Migration is all about people - those on the move and those in the host nation.   People generate demand but they also generate supply.   Skilled nurses, building workers, service workers, mothers, fathers and students create value – economically, socially and culturally.   If public services such as housing, health and education are constrained then either we are not paying enough taxes, or we do not have enough tax-payers (and that could include tax-paying migrants), or we are not spending our taxes wisely and to best effect.   Malthus was wrong about the limits of...