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LAST UPDATE | 17 Aug 2021
THE GOVERNMENT HAS announced €1 million in humanitarian funding to support the people of Afghanistan.
The funding will be provided to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to provide urgent support to people in Afghanistan, as well as to those who have fled into neighbouring countries.
The UNHCR has issued a global appeal for $62.8m to respond to the current crisis in Afghanistan.
Ireland’s contribution to the UNHCR appeal will support emergency response programmes in Afghanistan, as well as supporting Afghan refugees in Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
“The situation in the country is incredibly worrying. Even before the events of the last few weeks there were already almost three million Afghans displaced from their homes by insecurity. That figure is now rising,” Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said today as he announced the funding.
“Ireland will continue to engage, including at the UN Security Council, to support peace in Afghanistan and to protect and promote the human rights of all Afghans, especially for women and girls,” he said.
“Ireland has also called for full and safe humanitarian access to allow life-saving support to reach all Afghans, including to respond to the urgent needs of families forced to flee their homes.”
EU declaration
This evening Coveney participated in an emergency meeting of EU Foreign Ministers today to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.
The Foreign Affairs Council issued a Declaration after the meeting, reiterating the EU’s commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights in Afghanistan, in particular those of women and girls, and of minorities.
It also said that Afghanistan must honour its international obligations under the UN Charter. They also discussed the coordination of evacuation efforts, to ensure that EU citizens seeking to leave Afghanistan are facilitated to do so as soon as possible.
Coveney said: “I welcome the EU Declaration which we were able to agree at today’s meeting. In the discussion with my European colleagues I expressed Ireland’s grave concern at the situation for women and girls in Afghanistan, as we also made clear at the UN Security Council yesterday.
“EU Member States are coordinating intensively on the evacuation of EU citizens, as well as on Afghan staff working with EU Embassies and organisations. Good progress was made in today’s discussion, although the situation on the ground in Kabul remains fluid, including in relation to access to the airport.”
Human rights
Meanwhile, a number of human rights organisations have called on the Government to increase the number of resettlement places for Afghan refugees and to expedite international protection applications amid the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan.
The Irish Refugee Council, Amnesty International and the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (Masi) among others have called for Ireland to commit to resettling a minimum of 1,000 Afghan refugees and to participate in a wider EU relocation scheme.
The calls come after it was confirmed Ireland will provide up to 150 additional humanitarian visas for Afghans under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP).
This is in addition to 45 visas already approved in recent days for Afghans in similar circumstances.
The Minister for Children and Equality Roderic O’Gorman said the people who will receive these visas have been identified and work is underway to get them out of Afghanistan.
Speaking to RTÉ radio’s News at One, O’Gorman said the individuals include vulnerable groups, those working in human rights and “frontline defenders”.
“We have identified these individuals and we’re working to get them out of the country,” O’Gorman said.
“We’ll be working to get them onto flights maybe coming from EU partners and also any chartered flights that are exiting the country in the next number of days and weeks.”
These people will be accompanied by their immediate families, the minister said.
They will undergo hotel quarantine upon their arrival and then proceed under the IRPP. They will not stay in Direct Provision centres, O’Gorman added.
The human rights groups groups today called on the Government to increase staff and support for the Community Sponsorship programme which they said “can lead the response in this crisis”.
Ireland set itself a target of 1,350 resettled refugees in 2020 and 2021 but due to Covid-19 only approximately 250 people have been resettled leaving 1,100 places on the programme unfilled, they said.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees there are around 96,000 Afghan people in need of resettlement around the world but in particular in neighbouring countries.
The organisations also called on the Department of Justice and the International Protection Office to provide protection to Afghan applicants currently in Ireland.
Approximately 70 Afghan people have applied for international protection in Ireland this year, according to the organisations, with 211 Afghan nationals currently living in Direct Provision.
Afghan nationals are already on the prioritisation lists given the circumstances in the country, however projected waiting times are currently 19.5 months for prioritised applications, as reported by The Journal last week.
In addition to this, the organisations today called on Ireland to “proactively identify people who have worked with the EU, humanitarian organisations and their partners and women and girls at risk of persecution” and to fast-track family reunification applications.
They also have asked the Government to introduce an Irish Humanitarian Admission Programme (IHAP) to enable Afghans living in Ireland to apply for extended family members such as parents and siblings.
🆕
— Irish Refugee Council (@IrishRefugeeCo) August 17, 2021
Letter from @IrishRefugeeCo @Cultur_Meath @masi_asylum @immigrationIRL @ICCLtweet @NascIreland @MigrantRightsIr @POSIrl @DorasIRL @OxfamIreland @AmnestyIreland
To @MichealMartinTD and Government on #Afghanistan
Welcome commitments made, but emphasise further action needed. pic.twitter.com/L0G5Kw1Fzh
Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin today said Ireland needs to take an “appropriate” number of refugees from Afghanistan in the coming weeks and months.
“We absolutely have to take an appropriate number of refugees in the same way as we do with Syria,” Ó Broin said.
“The exact number I think that has to be negotiated,” he said.
“It is a humanitarian crisis on a scale I don’t think any of us were expecting to see.”
He called on the Government to ensure that no Afghan national currently in Ireland will be deported to Afghanistan or any other country.
“People from Afghanistan, in the asylum process, have to be guaranteed a right to stay,” he added.
Negotiations
Today in Afghanistan, a senior Taliban leader is said to be in the capital Kabul negotiating with the city’s political leadership.
Those involved in the talks include Abdullah Abdullah, who once headed the country’s negotiating council, and former president Hamid Karzai, opposite Amir Khan Muttaqi of the Taliban.
An official said the talks are aimed at bringing other non-Taliban leaders into a new government.
In a statement last night, the Government said Ireland “will play its part in providing practical support to some of those under threat from the Taliban by providing for their resettlement in Ireland.
“Priority will be given to those working on human rights issues, including the rights of women and girls, as well as those working with NGOs and European and international organisations.”
Speaking on behalf of the signatories of today’s letter, Nick Henderson, CEO of the Irish Refugee Council said: “We believe, through membership of the Security Council, and other diplomatic channels, Ireland can continue to show strong humanitarian leadership on this issue. However, this needs to be backed up by concrete actions, domestically and internationally.”
Henderson also said that family reunification can also be fast tracked so family members, many of whom are likely to be in danger, can leave.
He added: “Approximately 97 Afghan people were refused leave to land in Ireland between 1 January 2020 and 31 May 2021, people in this situation need to be given access to the protection process if needed.”
With reporting by Hayley Halpin, Niall O’Connor and Press Association
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Government can’t get anything right in my opinion there not fit to run this country but doing a good job running it into the ground
@Brendan Doherty: Its easy to talk from a distance. Do you think anyone out there could organise the recovery from a Pandemic any better? Take a look around the world, eveyone is struggling with the mammoth size and complexity of getting things like reopening and international travel reopen safely. Or worse, many are just opening without consideration of the consequesces.
@Barry Sorensen: except, we had 19 extra days to prepare when comparing to our EU counterparts…
@Barry Sorensen: Ireland is a laughing stock. You could have predicted this would be a mess. They have consistently made huge errors during this pandemic. And in other countries it is much much better. International travel has not being closed. Different level brain washing in Ireland thinking yer great. Guess who the joke is on
@Brendan Doherty: This has been a constantly evolving, global situation for the last 15 months. You try keeping up.
@inflation is coming… buy physical silver.: No, we are not.
@Pauline Gallagher: indoor dining open for months in Spain. Imagine creating a two tier society just to allow entry to a restaurant. Ireland is a totalitarian laughing stock run by self serving politicians. And you a brain washed sheep.
@inflation is coming… buy physical silver.: Ireland isn’t a laughing stock, who is laughing at us? Some perspective is needed here, this is people rushing to go on holiday not exactly a priority. Before anyone says it, yes there are people looking to reunite with family, majority are holiday makers.
Laughing stock is such a pathetic asinine comment
What country in the EU is laughing at Ireland when it comes to EU certs
@Brendan Doherty: it looks like it’s not everyone there believe you have the right to YOUR opinion.
@inflation is coming… buy physical silver.: Loads of countries require a covid passport for indoor activities.
@Barry Sorensen: nevermind that we had 3 extra weeks to sort this …or that they didn’t have time in advance to sort out the logistics of how they were goun to handle) manage this.
@Ally Mc Culladgh: the brain washed feel obliged to decide what other people’s priorities should be. So so so many brain washed like you. Civil servant by any chance.?.. Most likely
@Sam Harms: loads of countries? Really? Name them
@inflation is coming… buy physical silver.: “Ireland is a totalitarian laughing stock…”. What does that phrase mean? And please, give me some examples of where this laughing is occurring. I love the way, when people moan on this app, they feel compelled to rush into unthinking exaggeration.
@inflation is coming… buy physical silver.: https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/food-and-drink/indoor-hospitality-around-the-eu-vaccine-certs-ventilation-and-early-last-calls-1.4606765
@Ally Mc Culladgh: spain for one. I’m here friend who works with border control tells me only ones from Europe turning up with no digital certs are Irish. Not a problem as accepting the HSE card
@inflation is coming… buy physical silver.: At this rate you’ll be lucky to find anyone willing to share a meal with you – let alone to sell them silver. Quit the name-calling.
@Kim Steen Hansen: everyone is entitled to their opinion, but that doesn’t equate to being entitled not to have your opinion challenged.
@Ally Mc Culladgh: the helpline is collapsing with the sheer volume of ‘non urgent’ callers.. Most of whom have issues with name/ other details on the DCC cert, which they inputted themselves on the HSE vaccine portal. Don’t see how the Government or anyone else can be blamed for that?!
@Martina McDonagh: or in my case looking for my cert as am fully vaccinated since May and require it if I want to dine in a restaurant next week
@Pauline Gallagher: even eastern Europe countrys got it right first time.
I received second vaccine in march …no digital cert received and no proper way to find out why this happened….looks like il be staying putt for a long road ahead !…enjoy y,er holidays!!
@Niall Cahill: if you had it with your GP check that they registered both of your vaccines with the HSE. I saw someone post on FB this morning that their GP didn’t give details of their second vaccine and that’s why their cert didn’t come
My wife is on the phone now for five hours because they misspelled her name.what a joke
I travel tomorrow. Fully vaccinated since May.
Booked trip as I foolishly believed government assurances that I would have received by cert through the post by yesterday. Cert hasn’t arrived.
Four hours waiting.
@Cookie: There is a transition period from 1st July till August 12th.During this time all EU member states are obliged to accept other form of Covid documentation if other member states hasn’t implemented Covid Passports yet or only started the process.Malta broke EU law by not allowing Irish tourists in on their vaccination cards-2wewks must pass since last dose so this card is a valid proof of vaccination.
@Cookie: if your going anywhere except Malta you should be ok with HSE card. I’m in spain was not a problem
@Anna Dempsey: Thanks so much for this. Was just on for two hours waiting.
@Anna Dempsey: Malta did same last week (or week before) when they refused entry to UK travellers as they incorrectly thought the visitor’s vaccines were not approved by the EU.!
Two observations:
The automated message needs to be updated to reflect this (i.e. If you’re not travelling in the next 10 days don’t phone us now)
More options could possibly help the process. At the moment, “option one” on the helpline is for people who haven’t received their DCC and for those for have received their DCC but there’s an issue with it.
The person who assisted me (when I eventually got through) was very professional. You could hear the chaos in the background – I certainly wouldn’t want to be working there
@Sean Ryan: Hi Sean, just a question, were they able to provide you with a DCC after you phoned them?. I have a flight on friday and im on hold for the last 2 hours..
@Todd: I had received mine via post but my name was misspelled. They rectified it and I’ll receive the new one via email within 5 days.
@Sean Ryan: ahh okay, thanks for the info!
@Todd: FYI it arrived in my inbox overnight
Some people are travelling for essential purposes like visiting a sick relative or friend, give the system time, and stop clogging the phone lines.
Word of advise; be very careful when getting your covid vaccine/registering to get to give your full passport name to the GP or nurse. This is the name that will go on your cert and it has to match your travel documented name!
@Pauline Gallagher: too late for that now
@Piggy: Well i didnt know it was my personal responsibility to tell you this, but it’ll do for the people who havent registered yet
@Pauline Gallagher: Unfortunately there was no joined-up thinking regarding the certs/travel when vaccinating started. At no time were people advised to give their full name as per passport. Otherwise those of us with different travel documents/passport/vaccination cert names, would have known to use the name as per those documents. That simple piece of information would have saved quite a lot of these calls. However, I agree with another comment on this thread, that the helpline should be further broken down into different options. An e-mail address should also be available (not just the one already there), for these matters. The e-mail address would have the added advantage of having a reference number created, once sent to the helpdesk. The helpline set-up is a failure and the biggest failure is that nobody seems to be trying to recitify the issue. Very frustrating and totally unnecessary.
They spelled my name wrong and never sent out my partners (vaxed in January). And they prioritise travel to other economies. Been on hold 3 hours now. Starting to hate jazz music and that annoying robot telling me to wait 90mins
@Piggy: They go by the name thats on your vaccination records, so you have to be sure that whoever is filling out your form whether its the nurse or your GP when youre getting your covid jab to record everything correctly.
@Piggy: I know a few people (Inc myself) whose names were misspelled through no fault of our own (mine was missing a letter). A separate option on the helpline for this would make things easier IMO. It seems to be a common enough problem. I’ll be humming that jazz for an eternity!
What are people supposed to do, my wife got both her jabs in work in a health care setting in January and hasn’t heard back from from revenue or the hse as to where is her cert. Both my son and I are fully vaccinated vaccinated since beginning of the month and we have our certs. We still can go inside and get a coffee in a restaurant yet as she has no cert. Surely you could go online enter your details and print it off from revenue site, keep it simple but that’s, not possible
People are booking trips away without proper credentials in hand is ridiculous, would you pre book a holiday without a passport and hope it comes in time?
@Ally Mc Culladgh: I wouldn’t be surprised if there were people who did that
I recieved second vaccine in march….no certificate recieved and no proper way to find out why ! So trapped here for the long foreseeable future ! Enjoy y,er holidays!!
@Niall Cahill: wow, mine came through 4 days after my 2nd dose, I’d definitely be pushing that one if you need it urgently. I heard there were some delays for people vaccinated via GPs though
Sorry but is this a vital service? That people can go on holidays? How much is this costing in terms of employee hours and administration?
@Bleurgh: oh that’s irrelevant, the entitled masses are clamouring for their certs.
There is a transition period to roll out the vaccine certs in EU from1stJuly till 12thAugust.During this time all EU states must accept also other forms of covid documents as notall states are ready.Malta broke EU law by quaranting Irish Tourists who had HSE vaccine card.Ourgovernment should have clearly mentioned that transition period to us to avoid the helplines being overwhelmed.Vaccine certs are not necessary for travel till12th August.
@Anna Dempsey: how would you validate the vaccine cards? They can easily be produced on a colour printer, lack any individual identifier, and are hand-written, I had to write in the date of my 2nd appointment once I got the text from the HSE
@D. Memery: if you go on your HSE vaccination account it tells you that you’ve been vaccinated ..just screen shoot it and use that
Got second vaccine Friday and cert last night by email .
Waiting on phone now for two hours!! Are u covered with original cert if travelling next week ? If I can’t get through!!
Absolutely ridiculous… Ive tried all day long.. my call gets hung up after 2 hours on hold… It has happened 3 times so far …. Trying again.. does anybody know what the working hours are?
Here’s a good one. My eldest son got his 2nd jab on Monday.He received his cert today via email and I cant’ even get through to anyone to find out why i haven’t received one.
I received someone else’s Digital Cert who has the same name as me. I’m not fully vaccinated yet so was surprised to see it in my email inbox yesterday. Attempted a call to let them know but was on hold for far too long. I just feel bad for the person who actually should have this and hope they have received it too. Will be interesting to see it I receive mine on time once I’m fully vaccinated
Currently 90 minutes in a queue
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