The Green Party have said that they accept Finance Minister Sammy Wilson’s challenge to have an open debate on immigration.  This was a response to the minister’s attack on anti racism groups such as NICEM (Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities) who he claims use charges of racism to get public funding and ‘justify their existence’ and condemn anyone as ‘racist’ who wishes to debate immigration.

Steven Agnew, Green Party Equality Spokesperson said he would be happy to engage in an open and honest debate on immigration

I would welcome a mature public debate on immigration.  That way we could bring to public awareness how the UK, a country which lectures others on their human rights record, affords little or no rights to those who seek asylum here often from countries in a state of conflict that we have played a hand in through our foreign policy or by supplying arms.

Let us openly discuss how people who have come to this country in search of a better life are held in detention centres, in worse conditions than we afford our prisoners, despite the fact that they have committed no crime.  This was the fate for Comfort Adefowoju and her family who had settled in East Belfast despite the fact that the community and a number of the political parties opposed her detention.”

Mr. Agnew, who sits on the All Party Assembly Group for Ethnic Minority Communities which includes all the political parties as well as ethnic minority NGOs including NICEM said that the DUP in general have shown a lack of concern regarding how we can better include ethnic minorities in our society.

“The DUP have shown their lack of commitment on this issue by failing to send a representative to the meetings of this group despite the fact that they have more MLAs than any other party.  They came into power and the Racial Equality Strategy was scrapped, and it’s proposed replacement the Cohesion. Sharing and Integration Strategy has been continually delayed.

Added to Mr. Wilson’s latest comments as well as his previous comments which suggested that local jobs should be given to local people, show that he and his party are part of the cause of racism, not the solution.”

Mr. Agnew concluded that Mr. Wilson uses controversy to justify his own existence, “Mr. Wilson’s philosophy appears to be ‘I offend therefore I am’”.