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The Department
of Justice, Equality and Law Reform has recently made available an opportunity
for undocumented migrant workers to regularise their immigration status.
Under the new scheme, which is open from 1 October to 31
December 2009 only. Migrant workers who have become undocumented through
no fault of their own can apply for temporary residence permission for
four months. Within this four month period they can apply to obtain
an employment permit from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
Migrant workers
in Ireland become undocumented through no fault of their own for many
reasons, amongst them are workplace exploitation, deception or negligence
on the part of employers in failing to renew employment permits for
employees, or loss of employment without warning. This scheme
is specifically for migrant workers who held an employment permit in
Ireland at one time and have since become undocumented. In order
to benefit from this an application form must be completed and submitted
to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform before 31
December 2009. Application forms are available from the Department’s
Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service website.
Michelle Rooney
of MIA said, “Undocumented migrant workers have been living on the
margins of our society at risk of exploitation, without equal access
to services and in fear of deportation. This scheme will offer
some undocumented workers the opportunity to regularise their situations
and to continue to build the lives they have made in Ireland.
However the difficulties of living as an undocumented person in Ireland
will continue for many who can not avail of this scheme. It is
important to recognise the need to address the plight of all undocumented
persons in Ireland.”
If would like
to find out more about the new employment scheme and recent announcements
by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform you can contact
Mayo Intercultural Action on 094 9044511, or your local Citizens Information
Centre.
Background
to MIA
MIA was founded
in August 2004, is a support and advocacy group for asylum seekers,
refugees and other migrants and their families living in Mayo. We work
creatively to promote integration and cross-cultural exchange delivering
a range of projects and initiatives ourselves and in conjunction with
other organisations. These include:
- Education, Training
and Employment Project for Migrants: Naisc Nua (New Links)
- Education, Employment
and Capacity Building Support Programmes
- Integration Programmes:
English language support; Intercultural crafts; Intercultural music
projects; Irish language classes; Community arts projects etc
- Information, Advocacy
and Support Centre for migrants
- Awareness Raising
Projects
- Alliance and Policy
Development locally, regionally and nationally
- Intercultural youth
work
- Primary Health Care
Pilot project in Ballina
Currently, we have two part-time
staff members and two Community Employment Scheme workers and in July
last, we were awarded the Vodafone World of Difference Award which funded
one staff member for one year. We rely heavily on volunteer effort to
continue the work of MIA with more than 25 committed volunteers contributing
to our programmes.
In 2006, MIA
commissioned and published a report on immigration, integration and
service provision: Building a Diverse Mayo. This report was the
first of its kind in the country and was launched by Mary Robinson,
former Irish President and UN Human Rights Commissioner. Mrs. Robinson,
also paid our organisation another visit and this was recently featured
on RTE’s ‘Would You Believe?’
MIA was recently
nominated for a prestigious MAMA award and in June last, and Therese
Ruane was presented with a World Refugee Day Award. These awards are
recognition of the importance and calibre of the work carried out by
MIA and brought national focus to the issues of immigration and integration.
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