People Before Profit representative Adrian Curran has welcomed community efforts to make Ukrainian refugees welcome in Galway.
He said that the State should do everything it can to make refugees from Ukraine and all those fleeing conflict, regardless of their background or nationality, welcome in Ireland.
He said the refugee crisis caused by the war in Ukraine has horrified the world, and that his party reiterates their demand for the “immediate withdrawal of Russian forces alongside an end to NATO escalation of the conflict.”
“All those working to aid Ukrainian refugees in Galway, notably the communities in Newbridge and Ballygar who converted a disused school into a hub for refugees from Ukraine, deserve our appreciation for how they have swiftly responded to this crisis,” said Adrian Curran.
“We further demand that the state ensure Ukrainian refugees are properly supported with access to vital measures such as good-quality accommodation.”
Curran welcomed the supports provided to date to refugees from Ukraine, including immediate access to PPS numbers and welfare schemes.
But he said this should be extended to all refugees resident in Ireland, regardless of background or nationality who are ‘no less deserving of these measures’.
“The horrifying treatment of African migrants in Ukraine who have been turned away at the Polish border while fleeing Putin’s invasion underlines the EU’s policy of ‘Fortress Europe’ designed to keep out migrants, asylum seekers and refugees from outside Europe,” he said.
“This policy has already led to the deaths of thousands of people with many more trafficked into slavery due to their vulnerable positions, and must be ended immediately.
“Ireland has a duty to welcome its share of refugees from Ukraine and from all countries where refugees are fleeing war, oppression, persecution and other inhuman conditions.”
