Sir, – Michael McDowell raises the issue of “pull factors” (“Ireland must tackle the ‘pull factors’ that attract asylum applicants”, Opinion, September 18th).
A “walk-through” of the asylum process may be helpful for readers. If you arrive by air, you may be met by immigration officers at your aircraft steps, who could seek to return you to your departure point without giving you the opportunity to apply for asylum.
If you don’t have a passport on arrival, you will be prosecuted and may spend up to three months in jail.
Men are likely to be homeless upon arrival. You will need to find a safe place to rest or pitch a tent, hoping to avoid assaults from the far right or being moved on by gardaí. You might be fortunate enough to receive assistance from a volunteer.
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If accommodated, you will likely be housed in an army tent, facing the coming winter.
If you do receive accommodation, it will probably be in a shared room with your family, in a cramped building. The building is unlikely to meet basic standards or ever be inspected.
If you are an unaccompanied child and your age is disputed, you may be placed among adults unless you are fortunate enough to find a lawyer willing to challenge the decision.
You must wait six months to work, and if you receive a negative decision during that time, you are permanently disqualified from applying to work.
If you are granted the right to work, it will be in six-month increments and rescinded if you receive a final negative decision.
You receive €38.80 a week, the same amount for over five years. Your child will receive €29.80, but children are excluded from child benefit. You will live in poverty or on the edge of it.
If you come from one of the growing list of countries deemed “safe”, you will be rushed through the system with little or no access to legal aid. Egypt is on this list – an extraordinary addition considering its human rights record.
If you are unsuccessful in your first application you have one right of appeal. If your appeal and permission to remain is unsuccessful you will receive a deportation order and your right to any support ends.
Pull factors? Perhaps push factors – war, persecution, human rights abuses, famine and climate change – would be better considered by Mr McDowell. – Yours, etc,
NICK HENDERSON,
Chief executive officer,
Irish Refugee Council,
Dublin 1.