Click to read INAR’s submission to the Oireachtas on Integration, Multiculturalism and Combating Racism
Executive Summary
INAR is a national network of NGOs and community organisations which works at both a National and European level to combat racism. It uses iReport.ie and a range of other measures and instruments to monitor racism, influence debate and make policy recommendations for positive change locally, nationally and in Europe.
There is currently a policy vacuum on racism and xenophobia in Ireland, at the same time, racism is a far greater problem than is acknowledged. There is not enough data on racism and discrimination, due to under reporting and insufficient resourcing for monitoring.
Racism occurs at 3 interlocking levels; personal, structural and institutional. INAR and its membership favour an approach to tackling and monitoring these interlocking levels of racism through a coordinated approach, which is comprehensive, systematic and holistic, and uses a wide range of measures and instruments. These measures are set out under the headings: Institutions, Legislation, Policy and Practice. These measures ought to be coordinated as part of a renewed National Action Plan Against Racism and would include the following recommended changes:
- The reestablishment of an independent body for advising the government on racism
- The resourcing of an independent institution to monitor and report on racism
- To fund a range of anti-racism initiatives
- To adequately resource the new Equality and Human Rights Commission to ensure the Human Rights of all minorities.
- To ensure that all minorities, including Asylum Seekers are covered by equality legislation
- To ensure that all state institutions are covered by Equality Legislation
- To ensure full State compliance with all EU Directives, UPR, ECRI, UNCERD, Framework Decision and the Good Friday Agreement with regards equality, discrimination and racism.
- To Establish an independent Judicial Council
- To review the Judges Benchbook
- To make racism a crime by legislating both for Racially Aggravated Offences AND by providing for judges to ‘Uplift’ sentences where Racism is a factor
- To abolish Direct Provision and the Habitual Residence Condition and bring forth an Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill
- To resource An Garda Síochána and the Courts Service adequately to counter Institutional Racism and deal with victims of hate crime
- To recognise Traveller ethnicity
- To develop a progressive National Traveller Roma Integration Strategy
- To ensure Traveller and minority ethnic representation at the High Level Official Group
- To collect disaggregated data on ethnicity across all state bodies and administrative systems
Read the full submission here.