Although asylum- seekers possess an authorized presence in Ireland, they exist as a unique category of immigrant with no statutory or constitutional rights to social support. By 1999, in an effort to make Ireland a “less attractive” destination for asylum-seekers, the government approved restrictions to social service access (Fanning 2004, 90). Asylum-seekers also could access mainstream social service benefits, including housing allowances, enabling them to live independently (Ibid., 11). Prior to 1999, asylum-seekers with children were eligible for the Child Benefit Allowance, giving them the right to access funding for clothing, food, school supplies, toiletries, and other necessities for children, in the same way Irish citizens could provide for their own (Arnold 2012, 23). Ironically, because Section 9(4)(b) of the 1996 Refugee Act prohibits adult asylum-seekers from seeking employment, I argue that the government created the “culture of dependency” it originally sought to avoid (Quinn and Joyce 2014, 17). By not allowing asylum-seekers to work until they receive a positive decision on their asylum claim, Ireland is an outlier among European Union (EU) member states, most of which allow asylum-seekers to work after a certain period of time (Human Rights Watch 2015). Even Kosovar arrivals, who were not granted the status of “program refugee,” were still allowed to work and receive social welfare benefits (Ibid., 88). For example, between 19, Ireland’s first state-funded refugee program was established, accepting those fleeing armed conflict in the Balkans and giving them permission to work (Ibid., 88). Ireland historically has allowed refugees but not asylum-seekers to work. The distinction between refugees and asylum-seekers is important to consider when tracing the development of direct provision, in particular, the exclusion of them and their children from Ireland’s welfare apparatus (Thornton 2007, 86). In line with a general increase in migration into Ireland during that period, the numbers of people seeking asylum rose from a mere 39 applicants in 1992 to more than 11,000 by 2002 (Ogbu et al. Ireland’s geographic isolation and its lack of colonial power status added to the puzzle of increased asylum applications during the 1990s and early 2000s (Thornton 2007, 93). As early as 1997, however, news headlines proclaiming that Ireland was being “flooded, swamped or invaded by an influx of asylum seekers tap into visceral fears,” and the arrival of a few thousand asylum-seekers was reported as a “national crisis” (Fanning 2002, 321). In recent years, Ireland has transformed from a country of net emigration to a country of net immigration, having experienced appreciable asylum flows in the past decade (Thornton 2007, 87).
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