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Little
more than a decade ago, a black person in Ireland risked
being gawked at, so rare was the sight of visitors from
different racial backgrounds. But Ireland has absorbed
more than 30,000 asylum seekers _ particularly from
Africa's most populous nation, Nigeria _ since the mid-1990s
onward, a wave attracted by Ireland's suddenly booming
economy and its relatively lax immigration rules.
These
days, West African entrepreneurs run stretches of shops
in urban Dublin and other Irish towns and cities, and
social activists like Adebari are encouraging the newcomers
to integrate with their communities.
``I
got involved in the community and I volunteered. It
gave me the opportunity to meet people first hand and
they got to know me,'' Adebari said. ``We all have to
make an effort to reach out to one another.''
Adebari
traveled to Ireland with his wife and two boys in 2000
and claimed asylum on the basis of religious persecution,
citing bloody clashes between Christians and Muslims
in his homeland. His application was rejected because
of insufficient evidence he had personally suffered
persecution, but he gained residency because his third
child, another boy, was born in Ireland.
Asylum-seekers
flocked to Ireland in part to gain European Union citizenship
on the basis of having a child born in the country.
Ireland in 2004 stopped granting citizenship to foreign
parents of an Irish-born child, a law that had been
unique in Europe.
Adebari
said he had trouble finding work at first _ in part
because of an Irish law that bars people from working
while they are seeking asylum.
So
he volunteered at a local tennis club, helped found
a lobbying group for unemployed people in Portlaoise
_ and ran for office, winning a council seat on his
first try in 2004.
Since
then he has finished a master's degree in intercultural
studies at Dublin City University, founded a consultancy
advising authorities and immigrant groups on how to
work together, and hosts a weekly radio show.
``I
want to encourage immigrants to be a force in their
communities, to engage with their communities,'' he
said. ``People will get to know you. Their perception
of you will change just like that. That's what happened
to me.''
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On
the Net:
Profile
of Adebari:
http://www.socialentrepreneurs.ie/2006/10/rotimi_adebari/
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