Lisa Chambers says criminals seeking or granted asylum should be deported

RETRANSMITTING AMENDING BYLINE TD Lisa Chambers listens to Taoiseach Micheal Martin speaking to the media before the Fianna Fail parliamentary “think in” in Mullingar. Picture date: Monday September 12, 2022.

Fianna Fáil Senator Lisa Chambers has said that anyone who is seeking asylum or has been granted asylum should be deported if they commit a serious crime.

She denied the comments were “populist” and said that they were reflective of public opinion.

The Irish Independent reported on Saturday that an internal Fianna Fáil document has suggested that asylum seekers who commit crimes while awaiting decisions on their applications should be immediately deported.

Speaking at the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis in Dublin, Senator Chambers, who is a candidate in the upcoming European elections for the Midlands-North Constituency, went further and said that those who have been granted status and commit a crime should also be sent back to their home country.

“My view is that there’s nothing stopping us from deporting somebody that commits a crime in the State,” she said.

“If a blockage arises, we need to address it.

“Anybody that comes into this country, whether they’re seeking asylum or have been granted refugee status, if you break the law you need to be sent back. That is what the public are asking us for.

“If you’re granted status, I think so too if it’s an indictable offence, I think if it’s a serious offence that needs to be looked at.”

She continued: “That’s what we’re hearing on the ground, that people want this taken seriously. If somebody comes in and commits a very serious crime that needs to be looked at.

“I don’t see a challenge at an EU level. I don’t see people being against that. I think other countries would be very much along the same lines as what I’m after saying.”

Ms Chambers denied that her comments were “populist” or that she would brand them populist if they had been made by another party like Sinn Féin.

Elsewhere, Dublin MEP Barry Andrews acknowledged that there will likely be “legal challenges” to some aspects of the new EU Migration Pact. This includes the setting up of reception centres on borders to hold migrants while their asylum requests are assessed. This dedicated accommodation will be provided for people who are being processed in the border procedure or who are due to be returned to another country.

Asked if he was comfortable with the policy, Mr Andrews said that “politics is about what you can live with. It is not about getting exactly what you want”.

He continued: “I think there may be legal challenge. We know that immigration laws are constantly litigated in the Irish High Court and it won’t surprise me at all if some of these issues end up in the European Court of Justice, as they have Europe-wide application. “Nevertheless, we have insisted on humanitarian safeguards, making sure that people have access to justice and people’s human rights are protected.

“It is only for a limited group of people.”

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