We robbed innocent men of their dignity and libertyLettersIT is difficult to know exactly what to say about the treatment meted out to 19 innocent Moldovans this week. One can but wonder what type of outcry there would have been here at the sight of 19 Irish illegals in the US 10 years ago being brought in chains to a hearing. There would have been a difference, of course, insofar as tens of thousands of Irish migrants broke US law then, whereas the Moldovans committed no crime. It is particularly striking in a week when a politician who showed contempt for the people and the legal process was treated with kid gloves and spirited out of Mountjoy Jail, that they were brought to court shackled like slaves. Who made this ridiculous decision? What would we have said if Liam Lawlor, who did time in jail after due process, had been manacled in court? Is being foreign and poor a justification for depriving people of their dignity as well as their liberty? This situation is a shambles on every level. Firstly, because the country is crying out for workers, yet we treat them as criminals when they come here. Secondly, because it reveals the specious nature of our claim to be Ireland of the welcomes. How hollow this must sound to anyone attempting to come here who is not white, wealthy and privileged enough to come from one of those few countries whose citizens we do not automatically regard with the utmost suspicion. We are in breach of the most elementary principles of human rights in our arbitrary and punitive approach. It is not too strong to call this institutional racism. Before we continue with our posturing on the world stage in such places as the EU and the UN, we should put our house in order. We should abandon what seems to be a mission to emulate and even exceed the worst practices of our neighbouring island. We need a proper, comprehensive and humane immigration policy, suited to our needs and respectful of all parties concerned. If immigration policy was taken out of the sole control of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, this might be a very good start. Piaras Mac E´inrí, Irish Centre for Migration Studies, National University of Ireland, Cork. 
© Irish Examiner, 2000 |