As the Deputy will appreciate, the 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), including the border with Northern Ireland.
Immigration officials conduct passport checks on arrival to ensure passengers are properly documented in accordance with Section 11 of the Immigration Act 2004. If a person indicates or is identified as being in need of international protection, they are admitted to the international protection process.
I can inform the Deputy that in the first nine months of this year, 3,705 people arrived undocumented in Dublin airport. While these passengers should have presented documents at their point of departure, they were no longer in possession of those documents when they reached the immigration desks at Dublin airport.
I can assure the Deputy that the establishment of an applicant’s identity and nationality is an important feature of every immigration process and this is especially so in the context of persons who enter the Irish State for the purposes of making a claim for international protection. Each application for international protection is examined in detail on its individual merits, taking all factors into account. All applicants are carefully interviewed and their cases are individually assessed by experienced caseworkers. The circumstances of each individual case is assessed having regard to both the subjective elements (the applicant’s own account or personal history) and objective elements (up-to-date information on the applicant’s country or place of origin).
All decisions are made in accordance with relevant legislation and Ireland follows the guidance of the UNHCR and the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) in relation to claims for international protection.
In the first nine months of 2022 out of a total of 5,662 persons refused leave to land, 4,969 persons indicated an intention to claim asylum to the Border Management Unit in Dublin airport. This figure includes those who may have had valid documentation.
Furthermore, based on subsequent investigations to establish passenger identity, it is clear that a proportion of undocumented arrivals who claim asylum upon arrival in Ireland hold status in another member state and are likely to have travelled here on a convention travel document.
On 18 July 2022, the Government decided to temporarily suspend Ireland’s participation in the Council of Europe Agreement for the Abolition of Visas for Refugees. The temporary suspension came into operation from noon on 19 July 2022. At the same time, a revised Visa Order was introduced to require visa required refugees travelling to Ireland from participating Member States to have an Irish visa. It is too early to determine the impact of the suspension on application numbers. However, this will be closely monitored by the Department in the coming weeks and months.
This is not a decision that the Government has taken lightly. We are committed to upholding our international and EU obligations towards asylum seekers (international protection applicants) and refugees. However, where there is evidence that there may be exploitation within such systems, the Government must act swiftly to mitigate the risks, both to maintain the integrity of our immigration and international protection systems and to uphold public confidence in those systems.
My Department is examining the factors which may have contributed to the significant increase in applications for international protection and will continue to take all necessary steps to manage the international protection process efficiently and effectively, as part of the broader whole-of-Government response.
