Ireland has committed to accepting 540 Syrian refugees as part of the EU relocation scheme and will be determining whether to accept more at the end of the month, according to Irish Defence Minister Simon Coveney.
Under EU law, Ireland and Britain have an automatic opt-out on most EU justice and home affairs legislation, which covers migration and asylum issues.
However, unlike Britain’s controversial stance to refuse to accept migrants under the EU resettlement plan, Ireland believes EU countries should act in solidarity with countries, such as Italy and Greece.
“I’ll let the UK to speak for itself but Ireland’s take on this is that we need to bear and shoulder our responsibility like everybody else,” he told Times of Malta.
“But Ireland is a small country, an island – a bit like Malta. We want to play our part and be fair and generous...”
Mr Coveney was speaking aboard the L.É. Eithne, an Irish patrol vessel which yesterday berthed in Malta, after a two-month deployment in the Mediterranean to help rescue fleeing migrants.
Since its deployment, the Irish flagship has come to the assistance of 3,376 people, 179 of whom were minors.
“When you visit a country like Malta, which is geographically close to North Africa, it’s understandable that the population here feels vulnerable. We in the EU should act in solidarity with countries like Italy and Greece so that collectively we can have a comprehensive response.
“That is why we have ships like this one. But of course, that’s not the solution forever. We can’t keep facilitating the mass movement of people.”
There had to be stability in North Africa and this could only be achieved through time, investment and political courage.
Meanwhile, search and rescue coordination officer Shane Mulcahy said that, when approaching migrants’ rickety boats children were often not visible in the ultra-crammed boats. “There is literally no space between people. We first start by disembarking women and children, who are lifted and passed across migrants’ hands until they get to us.
“Our heart is in our throats – we’re terrified they’ll fall into the sea along the way. In fact, we have a rescue swimmer ready to jump into the water just in case. The crew buys lots of colouring books and toys. Many have their own families back home so it gives them satisfaction to see the children occupied.”
From the crew’s experience, small rubber crafts would have some 100 people in them while slightly larger wooden boats would have up to 300 people.