Time for a zero refugee policy? - *Read OP for mod warnings and threadbans - updated 11/5/24*

How do we tell which ones are genuine?

I have sympathy for their plight, BUT…. they were never here under any sort of permanent arrangement (at least not officially - whether many remain here indefinitely in the long run is another issue) and that should come with the expectation that their circumstances/supports may change and given the situation we find ourselves in with regards "dependent/state-supported immigration" numbers, those changes may be at very short notice.

Given this is our Government, anyone paying attention (including those NGOs/volunteers/locals engaging with the people in question) should know that it'll probably be done in the most haphazard and insensitive way possible - anyone who's ever had to engage with the Department of Social Welfare will know exactly what I mean.

The issue here is that we've allowed these people to settle without the ability to self-sufficiently support themselves and created (once-again) a further level of complication to an already very messy and overburdened situation.

What should happen now really is that those with the skills and ability to provide for themselves should be treated no differently to anyone else. If they want to live and work here then let them do so under the same conditions as the locals (including meeting visa requirements if applicable).

Those who can't do this should face the same choice as any other refugee or asylum seeker who finds themselves in less than ideal conditions here or isn't happy with the changes forced on them - stay and deal with it, or leave.

Let's not forget that. No-one is forcing ANY of these people to stay here and deal with being uprooted randomly (which is no different to any private tenant in this country incidentally), to sleep in tents, or to be "stuck" in a direct provision centre. They can leave at any point and go home (Ukraine is a vast country with large parts of it running more or less normally) or find another country that might give them what they want.

We do not have the capacity or the resources to "save" and provide for everyone who lands at our door. The Government have already bitten off far more than we can chew in this regard. While many seem willing to absolve the refugees/asylum seekers of any responsibility in that regard I'm afraid I don't - they made the conscious decision to come here, through several countries and over thousands of miles in the process, and despite the conditions many seem determined to stay and do press interviews and hold out for "more!". To deny any of that is to rob these people of any agency and suggest that they are easily-led pawns with no say in their own fates, which isn't and never has been the case.

I feel sympathy for them as I said at the start, and I've been in that position myself where through no fault of my own I've had to move away from my job and stability - in my case 2 counties away because that's what I could afford/find at the time. It wasn't easy either and it cost me a lot of time, money and frustration too, but no Government agency rushed to my aid and no-one started a campaign to force my landlord to let me stay. I just had to get on with it and decide what to do next within the boundaries of what I COULD control/do.

Just as these people will have to.

I don't think you'll find anyone who won't admit legal immigration has had an impact on housing. Problem is most people are constantly telling us they have no problem with legal immigration.

In fairness Sunny, we have adult children living at home in their childhood bedrooms 'boxrooms' who would love to be living independent lives up in the big smoke etc. but who can't afford the exorbitant rents on places to let. You'd have to ask in these general circumstances why war refugees and asylum seekers would get preferential treatment? It's not great for many young Irish adults to be honest.

In other news, West Wicklow is now being targeted by the state for accommodation. I suppose it's handy to Dublin and the IPAS offices etc. Apart from Crooksling and the debacle at Kippure House, increasing angst around Blessington and Baltinglass. One of the effects of putting lads up in Crooksling has been apparently to overwhelm the only public bus service that goes from Dublin out that way to Blessington.

Christians are persecuted in Nigeria, many have been killed for their beliefs. Therefore if a Nigerian Muslim wants to come to Europe, they can claim asylum as a persecuted Christian. It happens. Same as hetero guys from homophobic countries pretending to be gay and then getting women pregnant while they're in DP.

It's FF/FG/Green has us where we are. Don't vote SF/SD/PBP and so on, if you don't think they are up to the task, but lets blame bad policy on the policy makers.

The Healy Rae's are master pot hole fixers. It would be very hard to dethrone them.

If, as we were led to believe, part of the housing crisis is down to not enough building industry workers, instead of spending money on housing immigrants in a form of limbo for years, we send them to tech to learn a trade? Then they can contribute and make a life for themselves. We have spent over several years trying to put out fires. We should be well into bumping up construction worker numbers and filtering immigrants in and out by now. The FF/FG/Green lack of vision, disinterest and incompetence is beyond belief.

South Korea, Singapore and Japan have strict immigration laws. They wouldn't get away with the stuff happening here in those countries.

Spoiler alert - we don’t.

It's going to Sweden Mk 2

Irelands finished

Government and EU prioritizing economic migrants over it's own citizens .

He is a vile excuse for a human being

Yes, that is what appears to be happening. Some big brass neck on them lads in government.

Thanks, I meant people from Bangladesh and Pakistan.

My question is why do they travel so far to us?

Why not go to Singapore / Malaysia, etc., which are closer?

I hear a reply that those countries have "much stricter immigration laws than us"

But our politicians say that "we have intl obligations", by which I think they are referring to the 1951 Geneva convention on refugees.

https://www.unhcr.org/about-unhcr/who-we-are/1951-refugee-convention

Okay, but why aren't South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, etc. subject to the same intl obligations?

That Oireachtas document is useful.

It shows that we are awful soft. Even after AS fail in their application, we let them stay, by giving leave-to-remain.

I suspect that huge numbers of former AS are here due to leave-to-remain.

33% success rate = 1452 / 4402

But on top of the 1,452 who are genuine, we let another 2,081 AS stay.