Reduction reflects asylum seekers’ difficulties in reaching Europe, argues IRC
ASYLUM SEEKER numbers have dropped because abuses of the system are being curtailed, the Minister for Justice has claimed.
End-of-year statistics, releas-ed last week, show a three per cent drop in applications compared to 2007. At 3,866, the number of applicants is a quarter of that in 2002, shrinking to levels not observed since the mid-1990s.
However, figures released to Metro Éireann by the Depart-ment of Justice also suggest that thousands of people are being prevented from making asylum applications.
From January to the end of November 2008, some 4,957 individuals were refused leave to land on arrival in Ireland.
According to the numbers, there has also been a 20 per cent increase on transfers arranged under the Dublin II Regulation, which states that asylum seekers must apply in their first country of entry into the EU.
“I welcome the fact that the annual trend in asylum applications continues to fall, which I believe is a reflection of the ongoing implementation of strategies aimed at combating abuse of the asylum process and the streamlining of its procedures,” stated Justice Minister Dermot Ahern last week.
“I am also pleased with the continued increase in the level of success in effecting transfer orders signed under the Dublin II Regulation, which is a cornerstone of the European asylum system. These transfers reduce the number of asylum applications which have to be processed in the State and their associated cost.”
However, Robin Hanan, chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council (IRC), said the declining number of asylum seekers reflects a trend across EU countries, which asylum seekers increasingly have difficulties in reaching.
“This reflects several things, such as the difficulty of getting into Europe. It also reflects changing patterns of where refugees are coming from. Many come from Iraq but most of them stay in Lebanon and Jordan because they cannot enter Europe.”
Hanan added: “The real test of an asylum system is not the number of people coming, but whether those who need asylum are granted it.”
Asked about the validity of the Dublin II Regulation, Hanan said that “people should be given protection where they feel safe”, and claimed that the regulation is “extremely controversial across the EU” with countries on the EU’s borders arguing that asylum seekers should be more evenly spread out.
He also cited Greece as an example of a country that does not provide “adequate protection” to asylum seekers. “We would not have a problem with it if protection was the same across all the countries,” he added.
The IRC chief admitted that his organisation has not formally researched the methods through which asylum applicants arrive in Ireland.
