Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Bill 2021: Committee Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2021-10-07
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Alice-Mary Higgins (IND), National University of Ireland

As Senator Ruane outlined, we are aware of these existing but the core is that the functions under this Act are carried out. We have had a litany of cases. Many parts of the Bill, for example, relate to Irish ships and to ships in the Mediterranean Sea.
We have had situations of serious concern, with breaches of human rights in interventions in the Mediterranean. I know that Belarus is not directly concerned here but we heard about it in the debate. A member state, Poland, is effectively denying people their rights under the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, by refoulement and pushing people back into Belarus who have crossed that border. It is important that we are clear that no matter what means people have come into contact with the Irish State through, and indeed other states, they are entitled to their rights under the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. The European Convention on Human Rights, ECHR, must also apply. This is a core issue and there is a danger. There has been a sense of jeopardy and of systematic efforts by the European Union in some of the immigration control deals that it signed with Libya, Sudan and others, and in practice, with practical measures relating to how borders have been treated, the militarisation of borders, and how people have been pushed back across them, with a refusal to recognise that somebody is physically within European Union protection and entitled to those rights. These are not additions. This is to make sure that the State puts in place measures and scrutinises them to make sure that they are being reflected in the way that the different functions under this legislation are being delivered.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2021-10-07/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:40+00:00
Sitting date: 2021-10-07