Nigerian Speaks Out for Asylum-Seekers’ Rights

He was barred from entering a pub for “regulars only.” Once, someone poured water on Adekunle Thompson’s head from the window of an apartment building in his neighborhood.

Racial incidents such as these have prompted the former bank manager and political activist from Nigeria to speak out for the rights of the thousands of refugees who have sought asylum in Ireland in the last few years.

“There is a high rate of resentment of refugees. I have gone to schools and on television to explain to people why we are here, that it isn’t just for the welfare,” Thompson said.

“But the resentment usually comes from marginalized groups living in marginalized areas who go to the post office to collect the dole [unemployment] and see us there as competition,” he said.

Ireland’s soaring economy and tighter immigration controls in neighboring Britain have turned the island into an attractive destination for many of those who are fleeing their homelands.

But the estimated 6,000 refugees awaiting decisions on their backlogged asylum applications are prohibited from working, despite a need for semiskilled and unskilled labor in Ireland. As in much of Europe, they receive housing, welfare payments and medical care from the government--and grief from locals who feel excluded from the country’s economic boom.

A law passed in July allows asylum-seekers who arrived before July 1998 to work while they wait for a determination on their status, but only in jobs that no European Union national could fill and with a $200 yearly permit at the employer’s expense. Labor unions and refugee organizations are seeking to liberalize the law.

Historically a poor country, Ireland has no tradition of opening its arms to huddled masses. It didn’t accept European Jews fleeing the Nazis until 1942, and the prevailing attitude today is that most people seeking asylum do not have a well-founded fear of persecution. Rather, they are suspected of being economic immigrants who are trying to pass as refugees.

The government typically rejects 90% to 95% of asylum requests, although one-third win on appeal and many receive permission to remain temporarily on humanitarian grounds. Immigration experts say it is nearly impossible for people from outside the European Union to immigrate to Ireland legally, except through marriage.

The experts also note that immigration laws are incomplete. Some asylum-seekers and illegal workers are smuggled into the country, but human trafficking is not specifically outlawed. New rules governing the Justice Ministry’s powers to deport immigrants also are pending.

The country’s first law to guarantee racial and gender equality has been drafted but not yet approved.

Thompson, 44 and the father of three, says he thinks the Irish are trying to deal with racism. The government formed a National Consultative Committee on Racism and Inter-Culturalism in January. Church groups and nongovernmental agencies have launched their own campaigns against racism.

“They have been very supportive. They want Ireland to become multicultural,” Thompson said. “Things are starting to change.”