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Departmental Data

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 March 2022

Tuesday, 22 March 2022

Questions (784)

Holly Cairns

Question:

784. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Justice the number of Syrian, Afghan, and Ukrainian citizens who have been refused entry into the country annually in each of the years 2014 to 2021, inclusive. [15062/22]

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Written answers

Under Section 4 of the Immigration Act 2004, an Immigration Officer must determine whether a non-EEA national should be granted leave to land and thus gain entry to the State. Each person who has been refused leave to land in the State is assessed on their own merits, taking all relevant information into consideration at that time. The grounds on which an Immigration Officer may refuse entry to the State are set out in Section 4(3) of the 2004 Act. These grounds include: where the person is not in possession of a valid Irish visa; where the person is not in possession of a valid passport or other equivalent document issued by an authority recognised by the Government which establishes their identity and nationality; where the person intends to take up employment in the State but does not have a valid employment permit; and where the person's presence in the State could pose a threat to national security or be contrary to public policy.

The Border Management Unit of my Department has responsibility for frontline immigration at Dublin Airport only. Other ports of entry are the responsibility of the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB).

As the Deputy's query relates to refusals of leave to land at all ports of entry in the State, the data from GNIB and BMU has been combined in the table below.

2014

2015

2016

2017

Ukrainian

76

74

31

25

Afghan

74

143

175

117

Syrian

15

61

38

42

2018

2019

2020

2021

Ukrainian

17

15

8

6

Afghan

52

76

82

198

Syrian

70

95

162

511

If a person indicates or is identified as being in need of international protection they are admitted to the international protection process. However, they will still be recorded as a refusal of leave to land.

The above figures may include persons who hold a residence permission or are a beneficiary of international protection in another EU Member State.

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