Questioning the Governance of Asylum Policy in Ireland: Human Security and the Role of Migrant NGOs

Drawing on a human security approach, this paper highlights the way the administration and governance of asylum policy in Ireland has failed to prioritise well-being through a dehumanising and oppressive approach, which neglects to emphasise the dignity, respect and inclusion of asylum seekers. It has done this through imposing state sanctioned policies of exclusion and a focus on punitive rather than protective measures in the accommodation and reception of those seeking refuge and safety in Ireland. This has presented a politically challenging environment for migrant non-governmental organisations (NGOs), who often find their organisations co-opted into state practices through systems of compliance and restrictive funding mechanisms, which compromises their scope for advocacy and political mobilisation. Using the Scottish and Portuguese models of integration as examples of good practice, this paper highlights how a more human-centred approach can act as a means to break down barriers to inclusion and integration and create alliances between state and nonstate actors. In drawing attention to such models, the paper highlights some of the missed opportunities in the practices of Irish migrant NGOs, through an underlying premise of state political processes of control. While acknowledging significant factors relating to power differentials and the disconnect that can often exist between state institutions and migrant NGOs, the paper raises questions that elucidate the need to promote more participative and collective strategies of engagement, which, can in turn, enhance the capacity of migrant NGOs to act as drivers of change.