Maram Susli AKA Syrian girl talked to George Galloway who asked her whether he made the right call by telling Syrian refugees to return to their country and help rebuild it. Susli told Galloway that some governments in Europe are actually blocking Syrian refugees from returning. She said the more Syrians are living outside of Syria the worse it is for the country because it's caused a brain-drain. Susli said that Syria in particular needs its medical professionals which she accused Germany of poaching by expediting medical degree holder's emigration from Syria.
"In a time of war, that was a terrible thing to do"
She said there was absolutely am amnesty for Syrians to return in order to help rebuild their country.
"It's absolutely the patriotic thing to do. I'm sure somebody would like to twist those words or manipulate it in some way because there's an agenda to take people out of their homeland, the same way the Palestinians were driven away from their homeland, the Syrians have been driven away and some people would like to keep it that way."
She also told Galoway that refugees have been returning from Lebanon.
On November 19th, flight tracking websites showed an Airbus A320 operated by Freebird Airlines landing at Baldonnel Aerodrome in southwest Dublin. Unannounced, the Irish government had flown in 178 Syrians from Lebanese camps under the United Nations’ refugee resettlement programme. Two further flights from Amman, Jordan containing 400 asylum seekers landed in Dublin Airport on December 10th and December 11th.
The flights were part of the State’s 2015 commitment to resettle 4,000 asylum seekers from existing camps under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme.
So far Ireland has taken 3,151 people under the IRPP. Most of these (1,985) are people fleeing Syria who have already been designated refugees by the United Nations.
The remainder, including some rescued while trying to cross the Mediterranean, have to go through a fast-track process to apply for asylum.
Unlike asylum seekers who come to Ireland on their own seeking refugee status, people who come in under the IRPP do not go into the overcrowded direct provision system.
Instead they go to one of three Emergency Reception and Accommodation Centres where they spend an average of 185 days before being housed by local authorities. There are currently about 330 people in these centres.
https://mobile.twitter.com/altforire/status/1204707192236126208
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/irish-refugee-commitments-hold-firm-in-face-of-anti-immigrant-backlash-1.4120667
Last week, Cllr John Leahy told a full council meeting in Co. Offaly that he took issue with housing solutions allegedly being found for migrants over natives on the social housing list for a number of years.
"We're discriminating against Offaly citizens on the social housing list. We're seeing migrants not long on the list, or in some instances for a few hours, getting houses ahead of people on the list seven or eight years," he claimed.
"I cannot stand idly by when this is happening and I can't answer people who ask me why this is going on. To have an intercultural society, it needs to be fair and it should comply with existing rules of housing lists," he added.
Chief Executive of the council, Anna Marie Delaney attempted to explain to Cllr Leahy that asylum seekers were not jumping the housing queue as the programme for housing refugees is a separate one to the local housing list.
https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/home/502544/it-s-a-disgrace-offaly-councillors-clash-over-issue-of-asylum-seekers.html
Broadcast: 22 Dec 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjL6rWrsrvg
