Junior minister with responsibility for law reform James Browne is introducing a plan of amnesty for undocumented migrants in Ireland. Under the plan almost 17,000 of undocumented migrants will have the opportunity to regularise their legal status in Ireland. The plan is also said to be a ‘once in generation.’
The 17,000 of these migrants include people from different counties including Afghanistan. Apart from them, many of the women in these migrants are women being exploited in the sex industry. The plan will cover people who live in Ireland for at least four years. If they have children, people live at least three years too will be considered. The bill for the plan will be brought before Cabinet next month, it was confirmed.
As the plan becomes operational, a poral will be opened for 17,000 eligible undocumented migrants in November to apply for legal status in Ireland. The application portal will remain open for six months. As the first step, they will be given unrestricted access to market and later will consider for Irish citizenship.
As per the records the majority of undocumented migrants in Ireland are from the Philippines, Mongolia, China, Bangladesh, Brazil and Malawi. A report by Independent.ie also reveals 75% of them live here for more than five years.
Among these migrants some of them arrive here with working visa for a certain amount of time, but they resist to leave even after the expiry of work permit. Some others arrive even without work permit. Many of them are working in black economy. Many women among them are sexually exploited and being sent to prostitution. The new plan will be an elixir for them to build a new life.
Following the recent power capture by the Taliban terrorists in Afghanistan, there are many undocumented Afghan nationals in the Ireland who are afraid to go back to their homeland. They will also be benefitted under the plan. These people are not official refugees but they will be given an opportunity to regularise their legal status.
The process for application will be simple, said Mr Brown as the officials do not want to create a situation for the migrants to seek complex legal opinions and consultation. He also said this plan is similar to the one we usually ask the US to do for Irish citizens there.
Meanwhile undocumented migrants who have done criminal offenses will not be eligible for the scheme, it is expected. The scheme will be finalized by the first week of September. Then the cabinet will have discussion on this be the end of the month.
With reporting from: Independent.ie