The decision by the High Court last week to strike down as unconstitutional that section of the Aliens Act under which asylum-seekers are deported came as a blow to the Department of Justice, where traditional policy has been deeply unsympathetic to foreigners. Within hours, the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, announced that emergency legislation would be introduced to re-establish the "status quo". But simply plugging the hole created by the High Court judgment is not enough.
The Minister and his Government colleagues should seize the opportunity to launch a comprehensive public debate on the broad issue of asylum-seekers and on how and in what circumstances they might be more easily accommodated within a rapidly changing society. Yesterday's speech by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, when he opened the Vincentian Refugee Centre in Dublin, struck a much more appropriate note. He saluted it as "a welcoming community that recognises, values and respects cultural diversity". There can be "nothing more frightening than to be a stranger in a strange land", he said.
There have been other tentative signs of movement in this new direction. Some weeks ago, Mr O'Donoghue undertook to consider allowing refugees, who were waiting six months or more for decisions on their asylum applications the right to work. This response followed complaints by the general secretary of the ICTU, Mr Peter Cassells, that asylum-seekers were being systematically exploited within the black economy by callous employers. And it flowed from a campaign involving 100 organisations, including the major churches, ICTU and the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed, seeking change in the bar on working which, they said, forced asylum-seekers into a dependency culture and sowed the seeds of racism in our cities.
Unfortunately, there was little hint of a humane or caring approach in last week's ministerial statement. It concentrated on up-dating legislation from the 1930s and the 1940s and on ensuring that economic refugees "should return to their country of origin." It sought to justify the introduction of emergency legislation to deal with this matter, which involved eight cases in 1997 and about 50 cases last year. There has been all too little in the way of generosity or reflection in the light of our history as a migrant people in official Government policy. Most people who attempt to come here from outside the EU are still turned back at ports and airports by members of the Garda. And 85 to 90 per cent of those who make it through and claim refugee status have their applications refused.
A recent survey of refugees found that 44 per cent of them came from professional backgrounds, while 28 per cent were from non-manual or skilled manual backgrounds. They can be a valuable resource in a booming economy. The answer to the refugee question will require generosity, humanity and imagination. Mr Ahern recognised this yesterday in welcoming the new day centre for refugees: "As I stand here today, I cannot help thinking of how our ancestors, when forced to emigrate, would have benefited from such an organisation. I also feel proud of how far this country has come and how much we have to be grateful for".