Sir, - Congratulations to The Irish times for its coverage of the plight of refugees trying to enter Ireland. Paul Cullen's article "Curbs ignore harsh reality of refugee world" (August 8th), points out some of the realities the Minister for Justice has apparently missed. Despite the protestations of the Department of Justice the truth is that the former Minister did abolish the free travel area between Ireland and Britain. There is now no free travel area if the traveller's appearance differs from some undefined "Irish norm". Even worse, this decision is to be made4 by an unaccountable immigration official.
The point Mr Cullen makes about the harassment of Irish people under the Prevention of Terrorism Act hits the nail on the head. In both cases racial prejudice and stereotypes define who will be stopped at entry points. The fact that refugees fleeing oppressive regimes are unlikely to have passports or visas also appears to have been overlooked by the Minister.
As an anti-racist group currently working to refute the lies, distortions and racial stereotypes, circulating about refugees, Anti-Fascist Action finds our task mad even more difficult by the blatantly racist statements of politicians and many sections of the media. The level of racial harassment of refugees has increased to a frightening level and the immediate reaction of the Government has been to pander to racist views rather than work to explain the reality of the situation to the public at large. - Yours, etc., Brian Hanley,Anti-Fascist Action, Dublin 7.