A Preliminary Human Rights Analysis of the Working Group Report and Recommendations on Direct Provision

Abstract

There is a noticeable lack of any human rights analysis on the system of direct provision and ancillary supports provided for protection seekers. This is stark when compared to at least some level of human rights analysis that informed recommendations on the protection process. The human rights analysis regarding the protection process considers in particular Ireland’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC), in particular the best interests of the child and the status determination process. In relation to recommendations on the direct provision accommodation and supports available to protection applicants in direct provision, there is a noted lack of engagement with Ireland’s international human rights obligations. In addition, I argue that the recommendations emerging from the McMahon Report on direct provision accommodation, further embeds institutionalised living for protection seekers in Ireland.

Keywords: Immigration Studies, Asylum Law, Immigration Law, Social Security Law, European Immigration and Asylum Law, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Irish Law, Social Welfare Laws, Direct Provision, and Irish Asylum Law