Dublin, 15 January 2016 – In mid-December Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Ireland joined with 21 leading NGOs to launch a new report – Protection, Resettlement and Integration:  Ireland’s Response to the Refugee and Migration ‘Crisis’.

On the occasion of the launch, Eugene Quinn, JRS Ireland director, said: "Ireland must share the responsibility of responding to this crisis and show that its commitment to offering a safe haven for people seeking refuge extends beyond rhetoric to concrete action.  We are calling on the Irish Government to honour its promise to fundamentally reform the Irish asylum system, in line with recommendations in the McMahon Report, and to intensify efforts to bring the 4,000 persons in need of protection to Ireland as part of the Irish Refugee Protection Programme."

“Nearly 900,000 people put their lives at risk to cross the Mediterranean Sea in 2015 and over 3,500 did not survive the journey. None of us should be comfortable with this situation. We must always remember first and foremost we are dealing with people who share the same human condition as we do, who share the same hopes and dreams of a better life for themselves and their families.”

Protection, Resettlement and Integration:  Ireland’s Response to the Refugee and Migration ‘Crisis’ makes a series of recommendations under three key themes:

• Enhance legal channels for migration, including reducing the barriers for family reunification with a particular focus on vulnerability.
• Develop community and participative approaches to reception conditions and long-term integration of asylum seekers and refugees.
• Ireland and the European Union must uphold their commitments to human rights, humanitarian aid and addressing the root causes of conflict and inequality.

Download the full document here

We must always remember first and foremost we are dealing with people who share the same human condition as we do, who share the same hopes and dreams of a better life for themselves and their families.