Other Protection

Programme refugees, etc.

A “programme refugee” means a person to whom permission to enter and remain in the State for resettlement, or for temporary protection other than temporary protection has been given by the Government or the Minister and whose name is entered in a register established and maintained by the Minister, whether or not such person is a refugee within the meaning of the definition of “refugee”

During such period as he or she is entitled to remain in the State pursuant to permission given by the Government or the Minister shall apply to a programme refugee as if The above provisions as to international protection applies to a  programme refugee is a qualified person with the modification that a permission given may be for a specified period of less than 3 years.

The Minister may, after consultation with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, enter into agreements with the High Commissioner for the reception and resettlement in the State of programme refugees.

A person who, on the date on which this section enters into operation, is a programme refugee within the meaning of the previous legislation is deemed to be a programme refugee.

Temporary protection

“Temporary protection” means a procedure of exceptional character to provide, in the event of a mass influx or imminent mass influx of displaced persons who are unable to return to their country of origin, immediate and temporary protection;

“Council Directive” means Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 20016 on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and on measures promoting a balance of efforts between Member States in receiving such persons and bearing the consequences thereof and any other Directive amending or replacing it; “displaced persons” has the same meaning as in the Council Directive.

The following  applies to a displaced person to whom, following a Council Decision under Article 5 of the Council Directive establishing the existence of a mass influx of displaced persons, permission to enter and remain in the State for temporary protection as part of a group of persons has been given by the Government or the Minister and whose personal data (that is to say, name, nationality, date and place of birth, marital status, family relationship) are entered in a register established and maintained for the purposes of this section by the Minister.

Exclusion from Temporary Protection

The Minister may exclude a displaced person from temporary protection if—

• there are serious reasons for considering that     he or she has committed a crime against peace, a war crime or a crime against humanity, as defined in the international instruments drawn up to make provision in respect of such crimes, or                he or she has been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations,
• there are reasonable grounds for regarding him or her as a danger to the security of the State,
• the Minister is of opinion that he or she constitutes a danger to the community of the State because he or she was convicted by a final judgment of a particularly serious crime, whether in the State or elsewhere, or
• there are serious reasons for considering that he or she has committed a serious non-political crime outside the State prior to his or her entry into the State.

In considering whether to exclude a displaced person from temporary protection the Minister shall weigh the reasons underlying the Council Decision concerned as they relate to the displaced person against the nature of the crime of which the displaced person concerned is suspected.

Permission to Reside

The Minister shall give to a displaced person above, a permission to reside in the State and shall—

• issue him or her with if required, an Irish visa or an Irish transit visa free of charge, or           a permission to remain in the State, and
• provide him or her with information, in a language that he or she may reasonably be supposed to understand, setting out the provisions of this section relating to temporary protection in the State.

A permission to reside in the State so given shall be valid for one year, and may be renewed. A permission to reside in the State given may be revoked—

• when temporary protection has ended in accordance with the Council Decision concerned,
• upon the transfer of residence of the holder of the permission to another Member State, or
• where the Minister decides that the holder should have been excluded from temporary protection

Rights of Displaced Person

Where, during the validity of a permission to reside in the State a displaced person seeks to enter another Member State or has entered it without authorisation, the Minister shall, in co-operation with the competent authority of that Member State, make arrangements for the return of the person to the State.

A displaced  person  shall be entitled—

• to seek and enter employment, to engage in any business, trade or profession and to have access to education and training in the State in the like manner and to the like extent in all respects as an Irish citizen,
• to receive, upon and subject to the same conditions applicable to Irish citizens, the same medical care and the same social welfare benefits as those to which Irish citizens are entitled, and
• to the same rights of travel in the State as those to which Irish citizens are entitled.

Transfers & Reunification

The Minister shall co-operate with the competent authorities of another Member State in relation to—

• the transfer to another Member State of a displaced person
• the transfer from another Member State to the State of a displaced person
• the reunification, either in the State or in another Member State, of family members of a displaced person.

The Minister may prescribe documentation to be used for the purpose of enabling and facilitating transfers and reunifications. The Minister may provide to another Member State, insofar as they are available—

• personal data relating to a displaced person (that is to say, name, nationality, date and place of birth, marital status and family relationship),
• travel documents relating to the person concerned,
• documents concerning evidence of family ties relating to the person concerned (such as marriage certificates, birth certificates and certificates of adoption),
• other information required to establish the identity of the person concerned or his or her family relationships,
• residence permits and decisions concerning the giving or refusal of visas or residence permissions to the person concerned by the Minister, and documents forming the basis of those decisions,
• applications for visas or entry or residence permissions submitted by the person concerned and pending in the State, and the stage reached in the processing of these, and
• any corrected information in respect of the above which becomes available.