The Office of the Ombudsman has recently played a significant role in highlighting maladministration in the operation of our social welfare legal code, in particular in relation to supplementary welfare allowance and direct provision for asylum seekers over the last few days. Supplementary Welfare Allowance and Direct Provision The Ombudsman has release her report, Appeal Overruled: A(…)
We are delighted to welcome this guest post by Sheona York. Sheona is a Clinic Solicitor at the Kent Law Clinic which is based at Kent Law School. The recent and proposed cuts to legal aid in England and Wales represent a profound attack on the rule of law. The proposed cuts will significantly limit(…)
As most are now aware, in an article published on June 6, the Guardian reported that the US National Security Agency is currently collecting the telephone records of millions of users of the telecommunications company Verizon. The following day the press revealed that the NSA had directly accessed information from the systems of technological giants(…)
As readers may be aware the Ministry of Justice for England and Wales has proposed radical and far-reaching changes to the operation of legal aid in that jurisdiction. HRinI has hosted a blog on the proposals by Lucy Welsh. The very short (a mere six weeks, including two bank holidays) consultation period for the proposals closed on(…)
The Hong Kong Refugee Advice Centre Limited (HKRAC) is a non-profit, human rights organisation dedicated to the provision of free legal services to refugees applying for protection. Since our establishment in 2007, we have provided life-changing legal services to over 1,300 refugee men, women, and children. HKRAC operates on a partnership model, with partners including law(…)
In these recessionary times advocates for human rights in Ireland are increasingly met with a gateway demand: to relate rights to austerity rhetoric. Why rights, why now? The tendency is to dismiss rights as ‘entitlement culture’, and view rights advocates as lobbyists with unrealistic expectations.
A number of key themes emerged over the day as regards the system of direct provision. Firstly, the posts from those who have experienced the direct provision themselves (see here, here and here). These posts give but a glimpse of what it must be like to live, without a right to work, in a communal(…)
The system of direct provision is 13 years old this month. In April 2000, the system was established as a means of dealing with the relatively large numbers claiming asylum, which it was argued, was leading to accommodation shortages, particularly in the Dublin area. Some 13 years later, despite a huge fall in the numbers claiming asylum and a change(…)
Human Rights in Ireland welcomes this post from Anna, a former resident in a direct provision centre. My name is Anna. I am originally from Ghana and after spending 1 year in the direct provision system, I was granted refugee status. I was happy and proud to become an Irish Citizen after nine years. I(…)
Human Rights in Ireland welcomes this guest post from Jillian van Turnhout. Jillian is an Independent Member (Taoiseach’s Nominee) of Seanad Éireann. My entry point into the issue of direct provision is from a children’s rights perspective. This perspective has been informed by my work on related issues as the former Chief Executive of the(…)
