Faster and more transparent procedures for the granting of family reunification to refugees have been called for in a new report on the issue.
The study of the current system, carried out by the Refugee Information Service, found that clear information on the right of refugees to be reunited with family members was difficult to find and that applicants faced unreasonable delays. A further problem was the lack of guidelines in any language other than English.
The report, based on interviews and focus group sessions with refugees and NGO workers, also found applicants found it "extremely difficult" to make contact with the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service.
Moreover, it concluded the definition of family members for the purpose of reuniting families was restrictive and should be broadened to include the unmarried or same-sex partners of a refugee.
Senator Ivana Bacik said reunification, though often overlooked in debates on asylum and immigration, was a "vital and burning issue" for many refugees. As the report showed, applicants faced a "cumbersome, complex and often inconsistent" process.
"We owe it to the people who have come here and been granted refugee status to offer a more compassionate response to their plight, and to offer them a more streamlined, more simple and more effective process for being reunited with their family members," she said.
There are just over 8,000 recognised refugees living in Ireland, making them one of the State's smallest categories of immigrant. Last year, about 650 people were granted refugee status.
Dr Taiwo Matthew of Ennis Town Council urged the Government to make the system faster and more accessible. "The issue of reunification is something that has a direct bearing on the value that we put on family," he said.
Meanwhile, migrants exploited at work are often unwilling to take action against employers for fear of losing their jobs and due to a lack of knowledge of their rights, according to another report unveiled yesterday.
It recommends that the penalties imposed on employers who are found to have exploited migrant workers should be commensurate with the level of exploitation.
"Exploitation in the Irish context generally takes the form of underpayment of wages or non-payment of entitlements such as holiday pay or overtime," states the report, Access and Participation in Education and Employment by Migrants in Cork City.
Its findings, drawn up by independent researcher Paul Dunbar for Nasc, the Irish Immigrant Support Centre, were outlined at a symposium in Cork. Mr Dunbar found the practice of paying wages below rates agreed by employers' representatives and trade unions was commonplace within construction, mainly in small- to medium-sized firms.
He also found African migrants experienced the greatest difficulty when accessing employment. This was attributed to discrimination on the basis of ethnic background.