Chinese nationals who come to Ireland make a significant input to the economy, according to the Minister for Justice. Mr McDowell was speaking following the introduction of an EU repatriation agreement for the return of illegal immigrants to Hong Kong.
The agreement is the first negotiated by the European Commission on behalf of all EU member-states and was accepted in the Dáil by 81 votes to 11. Fine Gael and Labour abstained, while the Green Party, Sinn Féin and a number of independents voted against.
The EU is next expected to negotiate repatriation agreements with Russia, Morocco, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Macau, on behalf of the entire Union. Ireland already has bilateral agreements with Romania, Poland, Nigeria and Bulgaria.
Mr McDowell, said the "return and readmission of third-country nationals who are illegally resident in the EU must be an integral part of our common immigration and asylum policy". He added that the agreement "does not affect the human or constitutional rights of individuals".
However, opposition parties expressed concern about the impact on human rights for repatriated Chinese nationals and Mr Joe Higgins (Socialist Party, Dublin West) described the agreement as a "shameful proposal".
What was proposed, he said, "is involuntary repatriation to a dictatorship".
The Green Party was concerned that the agreement would be with the EU, "not this country. We should be concerned on those grounds because it is a further diminution and dilution of our sovereignty," said Mr Dan Boyle (Cork South Central).
Mr McDowell said Ireland "has a long history of legal migration from China and Hong Kong" and the numbers had doubled to almost 12,000 Chinese nationals in 2001, compared to the previous year.
"Chinese nationals come here mainly as workers and students and make a significant input to the economy."
Mr Higgins said: "China is a brutal, Stalinist regime where human rights are not just routinely not respected, but actively trampled on, on a daily basis." Both Fine Gael and Labour expressed concern about the impact of the agreement on human rights. Mr Pat Rabbitte, Labour's justice spokesman asked if there were "any safeguards or guarantees built in, in terms of the human rights of such people in these circumstances".
Mr McDowell said he shared some of Mr Higgins's concerns about China.
However, "every protection open to a person under Irish law remains in place regardless of whether we have a system for facilitating the return of refugees. No one's rights are being removed in this bilateral agreement."
