Dublin Inquirer • 1st February 2023

Moved by Their Daily Struggles, an Afghan Asylum Seeker Wants to Teach English to Others in Direct Provision Centres

Asylum seekers with good English like him should be tapped as a valuable resource, he says, and used to teach the language, giving others a route out of isolation and a chance to contribute more to Ireland. Ahmadzai has googled ways to offer his help. But hasn’t come up with much yet to explain how asylum seekers can set up classes for others in direct provision centres. Beyond finding roles for himself, Ahmadzai imagines a wider solution – an organisation tasked with connecting up all the peo

Dublin Inquirer • 25th January 2023

Singled Out for Fast-Tracking, Georgian Asylum Seekers Struggle to Access Legal Advice in Time

The narrative that no Georgian person has a good reason to flee their country in the Caucasus for safety in Ireland is unfair, migrant rights advocates say.

Dublin Inquirer • 18th January 2023

Communities Organising to Counter Anti-Immigrant Protests Strategise About Best Methods

These defenders are out on the street loudly counter-protesting, and also working behind the scenes to have quiet conversations with friends and neighbours.

Dublin Inquirer • 11th January 2023

With Direct Provision Centres Overstretched, the Government Should Do More to Support Those Who Want to Move Out, Some Say

And she couldn’t use free medical care when she got sick, she says. Because she wasn’t living within the direct provision system, she had no access to a medical card, so doctors charged her private fees, she says. In a section ironing out details of a new model for housing asylum-seekers, it says that those who find their own accommodation should have equal access to the weekly allowance, just like those reliant on the government for housing. Mbasa, the woman who left direct provision in June

Dublin Inquirer • 21st December 2022

New Bill Would Make Few Changes to Topsy-Turvy Aspects of System for Immigrant Work Permits

“I don’t know how feasible or desirable it would be for the Minister to interrogate an employer on the CVs received and why they aren’t suitable, but I think that goes to the design of the system,” he says.

Dublin Inquirer • 14th December 2022

For Some Chinese Immigrants, Mandarin Nicknames for Dublin Streets Still Bring Comfort and Familiarity

Not everybody around here uses them. “Never heard of it. Sorry,” said a young boy the following Saturday, shaking his head as he stocked the refrigerated display at the Wok Station fast-food restaurant. But for Yu, who moved to Ireland 20 years ago, these nicknames are still alive, lending intimacy and nostalgia to a city he lived in for five of those years. “It makes us comfortable,” he says. When Yu lived in Dublin from 2002 to 2007, he used to buy meat from a butcher’s on Meath Street. Afte

Dublin Inquirer • 7th December 2022

When Announcing a New Restrictive Migration Policy in July, the Department of Justice Used Inaccurate Figures

The press release, which is still up with the incorrect figure, announced how the government in Ireland was suspending visa-free travel to Ireland for refugees, citing the need “to protect the integrity of the immigration and International Protections systems”. Some refugees, already granted status in other European member states, were reapplying for asylum here in Ireland, the press release said. (There are many reasons why refugees may do this.) In the July statement, the Department of Justi

Dublin Inquirer • 30th November 2022

How the Government Created an Opening for Anti-Immigration Activists to Exploit in East Wall

The failure to ease the housing crisis, a lack of consultation, and a series of measures cast as cracking down on asylum seekers, have all contributed, some locals and politicians say.

Dublin Inquirer • 23rd November 2022

New Policy Pushes Asylum Seekers to Provide More Information, Faster – Leaving Less Time to Get Legal Advice

“If you write the date in the wrong format, or if you get anything wrong, then this is going to be a credibility issue when you’re being interviewed,” a barrister says.

Dublin Inquirer • 9th November 2022

Banks’ Rejections of Mortgage Applications from Immigrant Workers Stir a Desire to Leave

Immigrants are way more likely than people born in Ireland to be renters, and unequal access to mortgages slows their integration, an ESRI report says.

Dublin Inquirer • 2nd November 2022

The Government Says It’s Bringing in Stricter Asylum Checks, but What Does that Mean?

If it means stopping people from getting off planes at Dublin Airport so they can’t claim asylum, that would be illegal, an immigration solicitor says.

Dublin Inquirer • 26th October 2022

As Dublin Has Changed, so Have the People Attending One Inner-City Church

On a recent Wednesday, Marie Vedwing-Luc, one of the Church of Ireland’s former parishioners campaigning to win back access to the church, who’d just picked up her son and daughter from school on her way back from work, ambled down Francis Street. That went on for years, said Fr Kunnumpurathu, the Indian Orthodox priest, who says they have been holding Mass there for the past 15 years. “The Church of Ireland worship was in the morning; we were at 1pm.” Meanwhile the idea of a hub for people fr

Dublin Inquirer • 19th October 2022

People Whose Asylum Claims Have Been Rejected and Turn to the Courts for Help Face Familiar Delays

“All of the court jurisdictions have been prioritising the conduct of hearings in recent years, so as to facilitate those matters where it may be possible to encourage a settlement of a case or the making of ex tempore judgements. This has been aimed at reducing the waiting times,” said the spokesperson.

Dublin Inquirer • 12th October 2022

For Immigrant Arts Graduates, Chasing the Right to Stay in Ireland Can Mean Abandoning Dreams

Many arts-sector jobs are freelance gigs, and immigrants can’t get work permits and permission to stay in the country and based on them.

Dublin Inquirer • 5th October 2022

Frustrated, Immigrant Graduates Cast Around for Clarity on Immigration Rules

Prathapan is now grappling with more life-changing uncertainty because of that stamp. He is unsure whether his time on it counts towards the years in the country he must have to apply for citizenship – as its replacement, the Stamp 1G, does. Prathapan says that many of his friends went for any job that got them a work permit and the right to stay, even if they felt unfulfilled or unhappy. “We can’t choose what we want to do.” For Prathapan, being able to count that one year on his graduate Sta

Dublin Inquirer • 28th September 2022

Kids’ Books in Languages Other than English and Irish Can Be Hard to Find in Dublin

But some 18 percent of people living in Dublin reported speaking a language other than English or Irish at home, in the 2016 Census.

Dublin Inquirer • 21st September 2022

How Much Should Immigrants Rely on the Citizens Information Website?

“One which will provide for a flexible service that has, as far as possible, the capacity and resources to respond to the priority legal assistance needs of those of insufficient means,” they said.

Dublin Inquirer • 14th September 2022

After a Trip Abroad, a Family Was Blocked from Bringing Their Daughter Home to Ireland

Haque says he will be eligible to apply for citizenship in a year. But it’ll probably take a couple of years or more for that to go through the system, and since he can’t apply for his kids until he has Irish citizenship, it would take another two years or so after that for his daughter’s application to be ruled on.

Dublin Inquirer • 7th September 2022

After Coming Here Without His Parents Looking for Safety, a Migrant Child Is Left to Live Alone Among Adults

“There may however be persons not deemed eligible and still self-declaring as minors who are reside [sic] in IPAS accommodation who are appealing the outcome of their eligibility assessments,” they said. They didn’t say how many of these cases there are. Then he got a letter, he says. In it, he says, a Tusla official said that there’s no proof he’s a child because he’d travelled without his birth certificate or any other ID showing his date of birth. Ncube says he doesn’t really mind living wi

Dublin Inquirer • 31st August 2022

As a Tenants’ Union Grows, Can It Draw in More Migrants?

People who have moved to Dublin from other countries are among the most vulnerable tenants in the city, more likely to be renters, to live in overcrowded apartments, and to end up homeless.