A new Family Reunification Humanitarian Admission Programme (FRHAP) proposes to support refugees from UNHCR-recognised conflict zones to come to Ireland. The programme will welcome up to 530 family members of asylum seekers who are granted refugee status in Ireland, into the State over the next two years.
The new scheme will operate under Ministerial discretionary powers and will be in addition to the family reunification provisions provided for in the International Protection Act 2015. Sponsors will be asked to prioritise a small number of family members for admission to Ireland.
An increase in the number of new refugees under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme for 2018 to 600 and a pledge to resettle an additional 600 refugees in 2019 was also announced.
More information on the operation of the programme will be made available on the websites of the Department of Justice and Equality (www.justice.ie) and the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (www.inis.gov.ie) shortly.
For further information:
Read Department of Justice and Equality Press Release (14 November 2017).
Register for EMN Ireland conference on Migrant family reunification: policy and practice on 27 November 2017.
