The Irish Human Rights Commission has said it is seriously concerned about several aspects of the new Immigration, Residences and Protection Bill.
Today the Commission said there are a number of areas in the Bill where the human rights of immigrants are not fully protected.
The IHRC has made 59 recommendations to the Government. It says that while many have been taken on board, a number of major points have not been heeded.
In particular, the IHRC is concerned with provisions to allow for the removal of unlawful residents.
Under the new bill, there will be no 15-day notification of deportation. Instead, people who are to be deported will have an order served on them without any notice.
The Commission is also concerned about detaining deportees in prisons and garda stations. It has said people who have applied for protection, or who are to be deported, should only be detained in appropriate facilities meeting human rights standards.
The IHRC has welcomed a number of provisions related to victims of trafficking. The inclusion of a 45-day recovery and reflection period is particularly welcome.
But the Commission still says that the Bill falls short of what is required to meet international standards.
The Irish Human Rights Commission has appealed to the Government to publish details of various regulations to be introduced under the new bill. The Commission says the Bill cannot be fully discussed and debated without knowledge of the regulations.
