Yesterday (Tuesday 4th September) the Cabinet agreed to introduce a new scheme to regularise former international students who are now undocumented in Ireland. Workers and families across the country will be able to apply for permission to remain in the State, giving them stable residency in the country they have called home for many years.
- The scheme will apply to people who came to Ireland as international students between January 2005 and December 2010 and subsequently became undocumented.
- MRCI believes the new scheme will primarily affect people originally from Mauritius, China and India.
“We very much welcome this scheme,” said Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) Director Edel McGinley. “This is a sensible move that we’ve been calling for for many years. It has the potential to change the lives of so many workers, families and children – people living in communities across Ireland, caring for the elderly, minding children, working in restaurants and offices and homes. It means stability and security at last.”
McGinley continued “This scheme will not cover every undocumented worker in Ireland. MRCI has already received hundreds of queries from people asking whether they are eligible or not. The Department of Justice needs to urgently provide details of the scheme so people can prepare and be informed.”
Priya came to Ireland from Mauritius in 2009 to study Business & IT and has worked as a cleaner and carer in Dublin since finishing her studies. She has been a member of MRCI’s Justice for the Undocumented campaign since 2012 and has been at the forefront of the call to regularise undocumented migrants in Ireland, even speaking before the Justice Committee last year.
Priya said “I am happy today. This scheme means it might actually be possible for me to be documented in Ireland. This means everything. I’ll be able to get a better job, my children will be able to go to college and have a better life. They won’t have to hide their feelings. They can dream without fear, without limitations. I just need to know the details!”
Priya concluded, “Without our campaign, I don’t think this would have happened. It’s a victory. It’s a light at the end of the tunnel at last.”
