The coming into force of the migration pact is a retrograde step for migrants rights in Ireland and across Europe, according to Social Democrats justice spokesperson Gary Gannon.<\/p>\n
Deputy Gannon said:<\/p>\n
\u201cI have major concerns about this pact, not least the real risk that we will see children detained in Ireland while their applications are being processed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe prospect of children being detained is not scaremongering. It is something that is specifically enabled by this new legislation \u2013 and it is a shameful and retrograde step.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are also major question marks about the dilution of the right to legal aid, oral appeals, and family reunification as part of these new procedures.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone agrees that temporary protection applications should be dealt with efficiently and speedily \u2013 but the manner in which we treat migrants should remain humane.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe EU migration pact conflates cruelty with efficiency, treating temporary protection and asylum applicants as problems to be managed quickly rather than human beings appealing for help.<\/p>\n
\u201cIreland had an opt out and didn\u2019t have to sign up to every aspect of the migration pact and I believe this government made the wrong decision by opting in to measures that are arbitrary, cruel and unnecessary.<\/p>\n
\u201cTemporary protection and asylum applicants are not criminals and it is outrageous that the Justice Minister has refused to rule out detaining applicants, including children.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am also hugely concerned about plans that are now gathering pace across Europe, to set up so-called return hubs \u2013 which are detention facilities outside the EU which will be used as part of the deportation process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will mean the EU sending vulnerable people to countries that do not share the supposed human rights concerns and obligations that EU countries have.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are also proposals for temporary protection and asylum claims to be processed in these hubs, which means EU countries out-sourcing their responsibilities to assess claims to countries with poor human rights records.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe migration pact is part of a lurch to the right across Europe which has been accompanied by a vilification of migrants.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe EU should be defending the rights of migrants, not undermining them, and ensuring resources are put towards the efficient, fair and humane assessment of claims \u2013 rather than detention and third-country hubs.\u201d<\/p>\n
June 12th, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The coming into force of the migration pact is a retrograde step for migrants rights in Ireland and across Europe, according to Social Democrats justice spokesperson Gary Gannon. Deputy Gannon said: \u201cI have major concerns about this pact, not least the real risk that we will see children detained in Ireland while their applications are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13549,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[316,784,528,411,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gary-gannon","category-human-rights","category-immigration","category-justice","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n