In 2016 Europe is facing an unprecedented migration crisis. 60 million people are displaced worldwide. Hundreds of thousands are on the move – often towards Europe. Many people in Europe are deeply concerned about the ways in which their governments have managed the situation. At the same time tens of millions of other displaced and persecuted people around the world are being left behind.

The chaos has shown that migration policies created in the 1950’s are no longer fit for purpose. They effectively limit the right to apply for asylum by ability to physically reach a European border. That creates an incentive for people to risk their lives and pay people traffickers in order to travel here. It also ends up prioritizing people who are physically able to travel, have money, live near to Europe or on easy transport routes, have social and family support, or the personal freedom to travel. And it creates opportunities for criminal networks to profit from people smuggling.

Paradoxically then, as a group, the current system prioritizes those who are least in need of refuge over those who need it most. It is a survival of the fittest policy. This was never the intention of those who created our refuge and asylum policies. Understandably, they didn’t foresee the very different environment of the 21st century.

This flaw in the system is also one of the main causes of discontent among Europeans about migration. Most Irish people are charitable and wish to help those fleeing wars and persecution. But they want to be sure that they are actually helping those who are least able to help themselves.

They also want, naturally, to be confident that their own safety will not be at risk in the process. Interestingly, a more ethical policy based on need would also be the more effective policy in that respect. The most vulnerable members within groups who are most at risk globally are also the people who are least likely to pose any risk to the safety of host country residents. That’s not coincidental but rather flows from the nature of persecution and oppression.

Another central problem with our migration policies is that they don’t allow the needs of existing residents to be balanced against those of potential migrants of any kind. EU and international law prevents the Irish government from doing that and from imposing limits based on that assessment. That needs to change. Large scale migration can, and has in other countries, damage the wages and living standards of the lower paid in the host country even as it can benefit the better off.

Similarly there are many other costs and benefits to different forms of migration which need to be weighed up against the needs of those already living here, including existing recipients of asylum.

The Irish government is currently unable to respond to all of these challenges because EU and international law ultimately control our current migration policies. As a small state within the EU, Ireland is also subject to political and economic pressure from stronger states such as Germany to comply with their decisions on migration. This situation is now changing across Europe as stronger states increasingly take back control of their own borders. Ireland needs to start doing likewise.

Implementing the amendment to the Irish Constitution as we propose would allow Ireland to follow EU and international law on refuge, asylum and migration in spirit far better than those who implement it to the letter. Our position would be both more ethical and more effective than the position of any other European state. That reality could be demonstrated to public opinion across Europe if Ireland’s decision is challenged in the European courts and parliament. In that way, we may be able to make autonomous decisions on migration while retaining the other benefits of EU membership which most Irish people currently wish to retain.

The Good Boundaries Campaign are a group which is working towards bringing about this change in Ireland. We’re voluntary and non-party political. We believe that our petition represents the best compromise between different views on migration in Ireland and we hope to use it to build a broad, unifying movement towards migration policies that are fit for the 21st century.

Our petition states as follows:

We the undersigned call for an amendment to the Irish Constitution as follows:

Ireland shall control its migration policy autonomously and actively;

Migration into Ireland shall be subject to limits based on the needs of existing Irish residents;

Subject to those limits, Ireland shall offer asylum through a system of prioritization according to need within groups who are designated to be particularly in need of refuge here;

Those offered asylum under the system are to be identified and transported directly and safely to Ireland where possible;

Exceptions to the prioritization system may be made in exceptional cases on humanitarian grounds;

No international treaty or law contrary to this Article shall be entered into;

If any provision of European or international treaties or law conflicts with this Article then this Article shall take precedence.

Please note that by signing you consent to your name and address being provided to the Oireachtas petitions committee. This is to comply with their standing orders.

This amendment would require Irish governments to formulate migration policies, including limits on migration, in line with these principles. Citizens would have a right to challenge government policies and actions on migration before the Supreme Court as unconstitutional. This would allow for an open public discussion about how different migration policies either serve or harm the needs of Irish residents and would oblige the State to defend its laws and actions within that framework. Our goal is to bring migration policies back under democratic control.