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LAST UPDATE | 17 Aug 2021
THE GOVERNMENT HAS announced €1 million in humanitarian funding to support the people of Afghanistan.
The funding will be provided to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to provide urgent support to people in Afghanistan, as well as to those who have fled into neighbouring countries.
The UNHCR has issued a global appeal for $62.8m to respond to the current crisis in Afghanistan.
Ireland’s contribution to the UNHCR appeal will support emergency response programmes in Afghanistan, as well as supporting Afghan refugees in Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
“The situation in the country is incredibly worrying. Even before the events of the last few weeks there were already almost three million Afghans displaced from their homes by insecurity. That figure is now rising,” Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said today as he announced the funding.
“Ireland will continue to engage, including at the UN Security Council, to support peace in Afghanistan and to protect and promote the human rights of all Afghans, especially for women and girls,” he said.
“Ireland has also called for full and safe humanitarian access to allow life-saving support to reach all Afghans, including to respond to the urgent needs of families forced to flee their homes.”
EU declaration
This evening Coveney participated in an emergency meeting of EU Foreign Ministers today to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
The Foreign Affairs Council issued a Declaration after the meeting, reiterating the EU’s commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights in Afghanistan, in particular those of women and girls, and of minorities.
It also said that Afghanistan must honour its international obligations under the UN Charter. They also discussed the coordination of evacuation efforts, to ensure that EU citizens seeking to leave Afghanistan are facilitated to do so as soon as possible.
Coveney said: “I welcome the EU Declaration which we were able to agree at today’s meeting. In the discussion with my European colleagues I expressed Ireland’s grave concern at the situation for women and girls in Afghanistan, as we also made clear at the UN Security Council yesterday.
“EU Member States are coordinating intensively on the evacuation of EU citizens, as well as on Afghan staff working with EU Embassies and organisations. Good progress was made in today’s discussion, although the situation on the ground in Kabul remains fluid, including in relation to access to the airport.”
Human rights
Meanwhile, a number of human rights organisations have called on the Government to increase the number of resettlement places for Afghan refugees and to expedite international protection applications amid the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan.
The Irish Refugee Council, Amnesty International and the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (Masi) among others have called for Ireland to commit to resettling a minimum of 1,000 Afghan refugees and to participate in a wider EU relocation scheme.
The calls come after it was confirmed Ireland will provide up to 150 additional humanitarian visas for Afghans under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP).
This is in addition to 45 visas already approved in recent days for Afghans in similar circumstances.
The Minister for Children and Equality Roderic O’Gorman said the people who will receive these visas have been identified and work is underway to get them out of Afghanistan.
Speaking to RTÉ radio’s News at One, O’Gorman said the individuals include vulnerable groups, those working in human rights and “frontline defenders”.
“We have identified these individuals and we’re working to get them out of the country,” O’Gorman said.
“We’ll be working to get them onto flights maybe coming from EU partners and also any chartered flights that are exiting the country in the next number of days and weeks.”
These people will be accompanied by their immediate families, the minister said.
They will undergo hotel quarantine upon their arrival and then proceed under the IRPP. They will not stay in Direct Provision centres, O’Gorman added.
The human rights groups groups today called on the Government to increase staff and support for the Community Sponsorship programme which they said “can lead the response in this crisis”.
Ireland set itself a target of 1,350 resettled refugees in 2020 and 2021 but due to Covid-19 only approximately 250 people have been resettled leaving 1,100 places on the programme unfilled, they said.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees there are around 96,000 Afghan people in need of resettlement around the world but in particular in neighbouring countries.
The organisations also called on the Department of Justice and the International Protection Office to provide protection to Afghan applicants currently in Ireland.
Approximately 70 Afghan people have applied for international protection in Ireland this year, according to the organisations, with 211 Afghan nationals currently living in Direct Provision.
Afghan nationals are already on the prioritisation lists given the circumstances in the country, however projected waiting times are currently 19.5 months for prioritised applications, as reported by The Journal last week.
In addition to this, the organisations today called on Ireland to “proactively identify people who have worked with the EU, humanitarian organisations and their partners and women and girls at risk of persecution” and to fast-track family reunification applications.
They also have asked the Government to introduce an Irish Humanitarian Admission Programme (IHAP) to enable Afghans living in Ireland to apply for extended family members such as parents and siblings.
🆕
— Irish Refugee Council (@IrishRefugeeCo) August 17, 2021
Letter from @IrishRefugeeCo @Cultur_Meath @masi_asylum @immigrationIRL @ICCLtweet @NascIreland @MigrantRightsIr @POSIrl @DorasIRL @OxfamIreland @AmnestyIreland
To @MichealMartinTD and Government on #Afghanistan
Welcome commitments made, but emphasise further action needed. pic.twitter.com/L0G5Kw1Fzh
Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin today said Ireland needs to take an “appropriate” number of refugees from Afghanistan in the coming weeks and months.
“We absolutely have to take an appropriate number of refugees in the same way as we do with Syria,” Ó Broin said.
“The exact number I think that has to be negotiated,” he said.
“It is a humanitarian crisis on a scale I don’t think any of us were expecting to see.”
He called on the Government to ensure that no Afghan national currently in Ireland will be deported to Afghanistan or any other country.
“People from Afghanistan, in the asylum process, have to be guaranteed a right to stay,” he added.
Negotiations
Today in Afghanistan, a senior Taliban leader is said to be in the capital Kabul negotiating with the city’s political leadership.
Those involved in the talks include Abdullah Abdullah, who once headed the country’s negotiating council, and former president Hamid Karzai, opposite Amir Khan Muttaqi of the Taliban.
An official said the talks are aimed at bringing other non-Taliban leaders into a new government.
In a statement last night, the Government said Ireland “will play its part in providing practical support to some of those under threat from the Taliban by providing for their resettlement in Ireland.
“Priority will be given to those working on human rights issues, including the rights of women and girls, as well as those working with NGOs and European and international organisations.”
Speaking on behalf of the signatories of today’s letter, Nick Henderson, CEO of the Irish Refugee Council said: “We believe, through membership of the Security Council, and other diplomatic channels, Ireland can continue to show strong humanitarian leadership on this issue. However, this needs to be backed up by concrete actions, domestically and internationally.”
Henderson also said that family reunification can also be fast tracked so family members, many of whom are likely to be in danger, can leave.
He added: “Approximately 97 Afghan people were refused leave to land in Ireland between 1 January 2020 and 31 May 2021, people in this situation need to be given access to the protection process if needed.”
With reporting by Hayley Halpin, Niall O’Connor and Press Association
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There’s a welfare cut coming that’s why they are releasing this.
I know a guy (Romanian) who lives in Dublin and has rent allowance plus has been educated in trinity with a masters in law and also worked for cash for a bookies for years. I estimate he cost the state 50k a year for 8 years. His brother also is married and lives in a 4 bed house on welfare for the same period. This costs appeox 40k
These guys will never contribute to our country and yet our kids are emigrating every week. They will also continue to be a cost to the state for years to come as we educate their kids.
We should change our laws to stop the rot now.
Dont tell us tell the dept of social welfare. That’s the problem with the Irish, too willing to turn a blind eye.
Too late the cancer has well spread leave now while you have half a chance… this place has become little eastern Europe
I know a guy…..
I knew a guy once. Then he died. Fact.
The ?90 extra a week is not going to cover rent. Just reaffirming what people has suspected for years. Include then boyfriends living with so called "single mothers" and it’s even more money coming into household.
And a medical card.
Nothing new. I know of a woman who was told by Social Welfare to stay on benefits rather than working because she’d be better off.
Pure rubbish. Family of six on welfare when you throw in rent allowance, medical card, various supplements coming in at a taxable income of 28k? I was told recently that Welfare has helped immigrants purchase cars for taxi use, presumably to get them off welfare. No idea if this is anything more than a myth, but nothing would surprise me when you have people emigrating to Ireland aside the welfare is so generous for those with large families.
If a family works and is on a low income they can claim family income supplement and rent allowance if needs be if their income is below the threshold deemed necessary to avoid poverty. Family income supplement takes away the disincentive to work and makes it worthwhile.
I agree. And also, you’re the first person I’ve ever "met" with the same surname as me!!
Social welfare is a disincentive to work.. FACT.
I think you’ve gotten confused between opinion and fact. I also doubt you’ve made sufficient research into this subject. Could you back this statement up?
Any comment that ends with the word "fact" can safely be ignored. Fact
Fact.
Infactah…
A severe global crash appears increasingly likely with time.
Currently, the government appear to be tinkering around the edges with respect of resolving it’s own finances. They need to accelerate the correction and make provision for even more austere times ahead.
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-08-04/news/30087272_1_market-crashes-fed-funds-rate-interest-rates
i love the way this country suddenly decides all the unemployed are just bone fuckin idle…
After this countries corrupt leadership screwed every penny out of us they then fold the economy all by themselves and the resulting hundreds of thousands of unemployed are suddenly Scroungers.
Amazing
I say that the people who release theses scare monger stories targeting the unemployed are themselves in well paid jobs..
Get a reality check
Pathetic…
Well said ian. not on the scratcher meself, but who knows, da aul job could go bang anytime. most of the unfortunates didn’t volunteer to join the dole queue. seein as most of us didnt set the cost of livin in this dump, how could a family of 6 expect to get by on less than 28k, which i presume includes rent allowance.
for any of yis here who have jobs and are hopin da gov slashes the rates they give the dole, yis better start prayin ya dont lose yer jobs!
The department would also like to stress that the figures do not reflect a single family in the state and that they have pulled the figures out of their arse because they are too lazy to check their facts as usual. Also the Dept would like to say that over 85% of their fully paid and pensioned staff are on over 40,000 euro per year each and find it very hard to afford two holidays a year and pay for their holiday investment home… Also the Dept would lilt to further add that if it ever gets it’s figures reflective of a typical Irish family then it will be a miracle..
Spin doctoring bullshit at it’s best
The Dept is full of gobshites
The public would just like to say
The Dept can go and fuck off….
Well Said!
Greece to cut 30,000 public sector jobs, miss deficit targets http://bit.ly/nVBO4I #economy
Love to see that here.
wipe the smile off a lot of the useless HSE tools
Yeah but by the logic of the comments here, firing people will cost more, because they’ll get more on social welfare.
Very good Ian. Let’s cut the public sector by 30,000. That’s another 30,000 on the dole. 30,000 people less paying tax, levies etc. How many of them will be unable to pay loans/mortgage so banks down money.
Also. There are more than just HSE workers in the public service.
Well said Ian. I think we should cut 30,000 public servants. That’s exactly what the country needs. 30,000 more on the dole, 30,000 less people paying tax, levies etc.
Also there are more than HSE workers in the public service.
A family getting 90,000 euro a year? Seriously, get on and stop this nonsense. It is not fair on the people of 1.8 million working off their asses paying their own bills, rents, food, etc. It is also not fair on genuine welfare people who only need it for a short period of time who will work again. Its not fair on the vulnerable and people with disabilities who need welfare. How does a family get 90,000 euro in welfare is beyond me?
A family of 6 as well off on social welfare as a man earning â
A PR exercise if ever I saw one.
Headlines of “you only get €90 extra working”, but caveats put in so they can defend their unethical public manipulation stunt if need be.
How about looking at it the other way around – that the people aren’t being paid enough to work in profit-driven companies?
Ironic to think of the well-paid public “servants” that are coming up with this tripe. Unfortunately I think the Irish who are still here are thick enough to fall for it.
The “pay peanuts get monkeys” thing hasn’t really panned out has it? Perhaps TDs should go back to pre-Haughey levels of pay. Before the time TDs were lazy self-serving bastards.
Who gives the money to the civil servants to pay their tax and pensions?
Could it be the taxpayer – paying their own tax plus the civil servants tax?
What. All workers pay tax.
You’re not using you’re head there Ian. A cut in public sector jobs will lead to job losses in other sectors as you need people with disposable income to buy products and services. Its quite funny that so many irish people think the solution to a problem is not to fix it but make sure everyone else is in the shithouse along side them!
In most countrys welfare is taxed.So if you earn over an x amount you pay tax.After all its income no matter how you look at it.Every body should do there bit and not just the 1.8 million working there ass off.
Cutting 30,000 jobs kn the public sector will save money not cost money as it’s all borrowed either way. Put em on the dole and they get 188 per week and not 40,000. God I didn’t realise the iq was so low in the country. Jeez!!!
Ian
You want to put Thirty Thousand people on the dole? How much tax do they pay a week? 200?
Now you want to give them €188 a week?
Who would you take out of the system Garda? Nurses? Firefighters? Soldiers? Street Cleaners?
Public sector workers pay tax and have a job, for years we they were the poor relations of the economy.
Oh tell us oh wise one on your fiscal plan for the future of this great country.
i note you want to nominate cut s to all the front line staff. good of you to volunteer the hard workers.. The reality is that if it was those very front line staff that we need to keep. The behind the scenes admin staff that are replicated across the country are the ones that i wish to see cut out of the system.. The massive dept of payroll that have not being culled since the old days of the country wide he alt authorities.. The sit and play on computers all day long… they are the very ones that this country needs to cut out.. Its a common flawed argument put forward by the public sector that the from line staff are the ones they are defending when its the back office staff that are eating up the public purse..
Interesting you think the same way as the union antagonists.
cheers
The fact is Ian, we have one of the smallest public sectors in Europe and the OECD. Ireland spends a lower proportion of its GDP on public services than nearly every other OECD nation Yes, there are areas of waste and inefficiency, but just because someone works behind the scenes, or you don’t understand what their role or function is, it doesn’t necessarily hold that what they do is irrelevant, or that they are unnecessary. Such broad and sweeping statements are patently ridiculous.
Conor thanks for your comment . your facts are typical of many public sector answers. full of flawed generalisations and reticules comparisons.. Irl has already been warned for their massively over paid civil servants by the TROIKA commission and they tend to deal with facts. and not deal with rather stupid comparisons that you have had drilled into you by biased union reps from within the public sector… I am sure your a v nice fella and a real interesting chap.. Please think for yourself and stop regurgitating the union verbal diarrhea. it does you no favors…
I agree that our civil servants are in many cases massively overpaid, and could give you many examples to prove this point. However, this doesn’t mean that there are too many of them, just that they are used poorly and ineffectively and have unrealistic expectations. This is a situation that MUST be changed and radically (and as it stands remains to be challenged effectively).
I am certainly not being drilled by some union rep. from within the public sector. I am a self-employed individual who has no vested interest in the public sector other than the fact that it has educated me, kept me in good health, defended my country, built the roads I drive on and such. It is astonishing that people such as yourself see little value in this, and are blinded to the fact that a strong public sector can coexist and compliment a thriving private sector which is provided with the conditions to prosper and foster growth, and not choke it with red tape.
It still remains that we have a flawed public sector. It however also remains that we have a smaller public sector than most OECD nations whose public sectors are not bloated. Oh, and might I remind you that it wasn’t a coalition of hedge funds that bailed out the banking system when it was on the verge of collapse; no it was the public sector which you seem to have so much venom and ire for.
Conor u argue first “Ireland spends a lower proportion of its GDP on public services than nearly every other OECD nation” then you say “I agree that our civil servants are in many cases massively overpaid, and could give you many examples to prove this point”
I think i will leave u to the confusion to which u argue.. please take a moment to decide what u want to do with the proverbial cake.
“have it or eat it”
My final point on the matter is that many public sector workers can’t direct their own dept and how it works much less the whole public sector… My friend unless your part of the solution then your part of the problem…
Kind regards
It’s quite simple Ian, the individual civil servants, certainly those in the higher reaches of the civil service are overpaid. As a nation however, we have fewer civil servants than our OECD counterparts. I would have thought this easy enough to understand! Secondly, yes most people in the public sector are unable to direct their departments, much less the whole sector (indeed, nor are most private sector workers). However, when you say that if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem, it seems like you’re suggesting that these people are at fault! Until this point I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but now I would call your intelligence into serious question.
lol cheers debbie… no I’m afraid that its a shit house we are all in together it s just that some people (read public sector) think the shit doesn’t apply to them… IT does and as has been proved in Greece the shit needs to hit home to the public sector before they wake up.. shame that anyone has to loose a job debbie but thats recession for u…
Interesting that you think the jobs being falsely supported in the public sector are saving the country money. Some economists have commented on the mindset that you have just demonstrated.. Its a false reality.. Its similar to the mindset David drumm and many high flying civil servants share. I remember not long ago drive time did a feature on the wages enjoyed by the individuals in the public sector.. The aviation authority amongst others share staff who are on in excess of 800,000 per annum. This was a typical wage for many senior civil servants in quangos here. Their argument was that they create wealth and pass on taxes to the country…
The rest of the country would agree that that is money that could be far better put to work.. thats 20 people off the dole line at 40,000 per annum wages for an increased tax take for exchequer. thats a more realistic view based on fact and not public sector flawed thinking….
Cheers for your thoughts
you put a smile on my face…
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