This article is from page 33 of the 2008-07-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 33 JPG
NON-EU migrant workers face be- coming the first victims of the reces- sion with reports that many have al- ready been let go without being given their legal redundancy payments.
The Director of the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, Kilrush woman Siobhan O’Donoghue, has called on the government and the media to take a leadership roll and prevent the spread of racism by not making mi- grant workers into economic scape- goats.
‘There is a real difficulty that these people will fall between the cracks. We are hearing about lots of people
from foreign countries who are be- ing made redundant and are not been given their rights in terms of redun- dancy pay. If you are here on a work permit from outside the EU it can be really difficult to access your rights,” she said.
“We are definitely finding an in- crease of people being laid off and not getting any redundancy. There are often times in sectors which are poorly regulated and if you are not Irish and are here under a work per- mit scheme then the consequences can be dire.
“If you are undocumented you are particularly at risk and very vulnera- ble. We have done some research and
it seems that a lot of people become undocumented through no fault of their own: through being on a work permit and having an employer not renew it for some reason. They can be left with massive debts, depend- ence at home and no choice but to continue working without docu- ments. Often times this leaves them in a position where they have no choice but to continue.
“Racism is something that we are very concerned with. The way in which the media in particular and our leaders scapegoat migrants as a distraction of the real issues and how the economy is being managed can make the migrants into easy scape-
goats. Migrants are an easy target but the leadership need to come from the government. When the economy is on shaky ground the last thing that we should do is turn on each other.”
The Irish Migrant Rights Centre has stressed that while migration is on the wane from areas within the EU zone, including Poland and Lithuania, migrants are continuing to come to Ireland.
“Migration helped to create the boom and they will be a very real part of us getting out of this current slump. Migration is not like a tap that you can turn on and off,” continued Ms O’Donoghue.
“They are not coming in the same
volumes as they were six months ago, indeed it appears that numbers are down, especially those coming from within the European Union. But there are migrants who are part of Irish society, this is their home and they will stay here.
“Nobody can come into Ireland and claim unemployment. It’s actu- ally very difficult to come in and claim social protection in this coun- try – especially if you are coming in from outside the EU. You must be able to prove that you have been in full-time employment for at least a year and there are very real barriers if you ban here working for less than two years.”