Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 September 2022
1433. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Justice the number of persons who were refused permission to land at Dublin Airport, by country of origin or nationality, between July 2021 and July 2022, in tabular form. [43425/22]
View answerThe State has a duty to protect its borders and to ensure that all arriving passengers are entitled to enter the State. This is a fundamental exercise of State sovereignty, which is necessary to protect the security of the State and to prevent illegal immigration. The exercise of powers in this area is at all times subject to the law and to respect for individual rights.
The Border Management Unit (BMU) of my Department has responsibility for frontline immigration duties at Dublin Airport only. Other ports of entry are the responsibility of the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB).
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. In performing their duties, an Immigration Officer is required to consider all of the circumstances of the non-EEA national at the time of entry.
A refusal of leave to land by the BMU is first considered by the Immigration Officer and is always signed off by a more senior officer. It is important to note that a refusal of leave to land, unlike a deportation or a removal order, is specific to the arrival instance and does not preclude the person from seeking to enter the State in the future if they satisfy the conditions for entry. The principle of non-refoulement applies to each of these decisions.
Where 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 tables below set out the nationalities of people refused leave to land over the period sought by the Deputy.
|
Nationality |
July 2021 - December 2021 Total |
|
Syrian |
442 |
|
Eritrean |
385 |
|
Somali |
367 |
|
Afghan |
160 |
|
Brazilian |
142 |
|
Zimbabwean |
110 |
|
Kuwaiti |
101 |
|
Georgian |
94 |
|
South African |
72 |
|
Motswana |
72 |
|
Albanian |
68 |
|
Iraqi |
63 |
|
Iranian |
63 |
|
Palestinian |
60 |
|
Yemeni |
59 |
|
Algerian |
46 |
|
Nigerian |
25 |
|
Sudanese |
24 |
|
Ethiopian |
16 |
|
Congolese (DRC) |
14 |
|
Pakistani |
13 |
|
Salvadoran |
13 |
|
American |
13 |
|
Dominican |
12 |
|
Chinese |
11 |
|
Others* |
129 |
|
Total |
2574 |
|
Nationality |
January 2022 - July 2022 Total |
|
Georgian |
877 |
|
Somali |
702 |
|
Zimbabwean |
372 |
|
Syrian |
294 |
|
Kuwaiti |
224 |
|
Albanian |
190 |
|
Eritrean |
174 |
|
Motswana |
162 |
|
Brazilian |
159 |
|
South African |
141 |
|
Iranian |
119 |
|
Afghan |
100 |
|
Algerian |
96 |
|
Iraqi |
80 |
|
Sudanese |
64 |
|
Palestinian |
63 |
|
Indian |
50 |
|
Yemeni |
47 |
|
Congolese (DRC) |
46 |
|
Salvadoran |
40 |
|
Bolivian |
30 |
|
Nigerian |
30 |
|
Egyptian |
27 |
|
Sierra Leonean |
25 |
|
Ethiopian |
25 |
|
Swazi |
23 |
|
Chinese |
19 |
|
Nicaraguan |
16 |
|
American |
16 |
|
Unknown |
12 |
|
Pakistani |
12 |
|
Sri Lankan |
11 |
|
Others* |
162 |
|
Total |
4408 |
*All nationalities with fewer than 10 refusals have been grouped as ‘Others’ to ensure individual records remain anonymised.
