MICRA calls on Minister for Justice to allow family re-unification

The newly formed Migrant Civil Rights Association has called on the Minister for Justice to examine the issue of family re-unification for non-EU citizens.

In a statement, MICRA says, 

“It is utterly extraordinary that in a country where so much importance has been assigned to family life, that many spouses are having difficulty living together – simply because they have the wrong passports. 

“Currently, the main group who have a legal right to family re-unification are officially recognised refugees. 

“But Irish citizens who are married to non-EU citizens have no legal right to family re-unification. 

“Instead the granting of permission to reside together in Ireland is discretionary and is taking on administrative grounds. 

“The Department of Justice uses different categories to decide on whether or not to grant the possibility of re-unification. It distinguishes, for example, between naturalised Irish citizens and Irish citizens. 

“Non-EU nationals who are married to EU citizens are also being told that they must show evidence of lawful residence in another EU before getting permission to come to Ireland. 

“It is not clear exactly how teenage children of non-EU spouses may gain access here. 

“Other migrant families face a trauma when their children who have been a resident in Ireland become older than 21 and they worry that they may no longer be able to stay. 

“The new Minister for Justice should examine the issue of family re-unification and show that Ireland does not regard migrants as simply units of labour but as fully fledged human beings with social rights. 

“A practical way to do that would be to establish a statutory right to family re-unification.”