The State's watchdog on human rights has today called for tighter safeguards to immigration law and practices.
The Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) made its call following the publication of its second inquiry report that examined the treatment of a visitor from Pakistan who was refused entry to Ireland.
The report recommends the Government introduce tighter safeguards to immigration law and practice including a review of the Immigration, Protection and Residence Bill 2008.
In its report, the IHRC expresses concern in relation to the State’s compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the European Convention on the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
The IHRC found European and International Human Rights standards were not been complied with fully in the way it which the Pakistani national, who had a valid visitor visa, was refused entry to land at Dublin airport. The man was subsequently arrested and detained in prison.
Before being forcibly removed from the State, the complainant also had his passport marked by immigration officials at Dublin airport; that led to his detention in three other countries including in his home country of Pakistan.
The IHRC said that it believed that a review of immigration law and practice was needed which would include the provisions of the 2008 Bill, which is at Committee stage in the Oireachtas. This it said, would bring Ireland into line with its international human rights commitments and assist the State in reducing the likelihood of having to address such issues through costly litigation.
The IHRC also recommended that vague criteria on which immigration officers base their decisions to refuse persons leave to land in the State be removed from the statute books.
It called for improved safeguards against arbitrary detention and recommended the State’s procedures for collecting information concerning visa decisions and immigration detentions be significantly improved.
The inquiry report also said that persons refused leave to land in the State should not be detained in prisons and said that effective remedies should be ensured where the human rights of individuals are not respected
"The report’s findings deserve careful scrutiny, particularly concerning those practices that the IHRC considers to be not fully in compliance with international standards but which are included in the current draft legislation," said Des Hogan, deputy chief executive of the IHRC.
