Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 22 Feb 2001

Vol. 531 No. 2

Written Answers. - Asylum Applications.

Brendan Howlin

Ceist:

169 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of applications for asylum which were withdrawn in each month of 2000; and the number of the applications in question which were made prior to 1998 and in each of the past years, 1998, 1999 and 2000. [5265/01]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

The Refugee Act, 1996, as amended by the Immigration Act, 1999, and the Illegal Immigrants Trafficking Act, 2000, was commenced in full on 20 November 2000. Under the Act, two independent statutory offices were established to consider applications/appeals for refugee status and to make recommendations to the Minister on whether such status should be granted.

These two offices are the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner, which will consider applications for a declaration as a refugee at first instance, and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal which will consider applications for a declaration at appeal stage.

The information made available to me by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner is set out in the following tabular statement:

Withdrawals for 2000 at First Instance

Month	2000	Appliedbefore1998	Appliedin 1998	Appliedin 1999	Appliedin 2000
Jan.	150	8	20	119	3
Feb.	110	2	1	94	13
March	142	5	3	107	27
April	113	7	1	65	40
May	228	8	2	123	95
June	216	16	2	103	95
July	213	0	1	84	128
August	181	12	2	65	102
Sept.	256	5	5	81	165
Oct.	300	1	4	83	212
Nov.	238	0	5	70	163
Dec.	233	0	0	49	184
Total	2,380	64	46	1,043	1,227

There are also another two categories who effectively withdraw from the asylum system in the sense that they are not contactable for the purposes of finalising their claim. The details are as follows:

	Year	1998Oct-Dec	1999	*2000Jan-17 Nov	**200031/12
Deemed Abandoned	2	1,628	1,511	n/a
No Shows S11(9)	n/a	n/a	n/a	23

*Applications were deemed abandoned between October 1998 and the implementation of the Refugee Act, 1996, as amended, on 20 November 2000. Prior to October 1998 applications that were deemed abandoned, for statistical purposes, were recorded as withdrawals.

**In the period from October 1998 until the implementation of the Refugee Act, 1996, as amended, on 20 November, 2000, where an applicant failed to attend at an interview or was otherwise uncontactable without good or sufficient reason, the applicant was advised in writing that his or her case would be deemed abandoned. A notice to this effect was sent to the applicant at his or her last known address by registered post. The applicant had 14 days to offer any explanation and was advised if s/he subsequently came to the attention of the authorities, such applicant would be dealt with in accordance with immigration – non-asylum – rules.

Since the implementation to the Refugee Act, 1996, as amended, on 20 November 2000, where an applicant does not attend for interview with an authorised officer, under section 11(9) the commissioner shall by notice in writing require the applicant to attend for interview at such time and place as shall be specified in the notice and if the applicant does not, without reasonable cause, comply with the requirement the commissioner shall make a recommendation that the applicant should not be declared to be a refugee.

The information made available to me by the Office of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal is set out in the following tabular statement:

Withdrawals for 2000 at Appeal Stage

Month	2000	Appliedbefore1998	Appliedin 1998	Appliedin 1999	Appliedin 2000
Jan.	41	15	25	1	0
Feb.	40	6	29	5	0
March	44	7	32	5	0
April	44	7	32	5	0
May	51	10	24	17	0
June	35	7	23	5	0
July	34	2	21	8	3
August	24	0	8	14	2
Sept.	31	0	23	8	0
Oct.	24	1	2	17	4
Nov.	52	0	17	33	2
Dec.	34	0	15	16	3
Total	454	55	251	134	14

Brendan Howlin

Ceist:

170 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of asylum applications withdrawn in 2000 which were withdrawn on foot of applicants seeking or being granted residence on the basis of parentage of an Irish-born child; being given permission to remain as current or former asylum seekers who were the spouse of an Irish national; and being given permission to remain as current or former asylum seekers who were the spouse of an EEA national. [5266/01]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

The Refugee Act, 1996, as amended by the Immigration Act, 1999, and the Illegal Immigrants Trafficking Act, 2000, was commenced in full on 20 November 2000. Under the Act, two independent statutory offices were established to consider applications-appeals for refugee status and to make recommendations to the Minister on whether such status should be granted. These two offices are the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner, which will consider applications for a declaration as a refugee at first instance and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal which will consider applications for a declaration at appeal stage.

The information made available to me by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and the Office of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal is set out in the following tabular statement:

Number of asylum applications withdrawn in Year 2000 – Basis for Withdrawal

Basis for Withdrawal	Irish Born Child	Marriage to an Irish National	Marriage to an EEA National	Total Withdrawn
Withdrawn at First Instance [Office of the RefugeeApplications Commissioner]	1,841	45	84	1,970
[Withdrawn at Appeal Stage] Office of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal	304	35	34	373

Total2,145801182,343

It is possible that applicants may have withdrawn from the process for the above stated reasons without informing the appropriate asylum processing authority.

Brendan Howlin

Ceist:

171 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if, further to his reply to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 1044-49 of 30 January 2001 where he stated that leave to land is granted in cases where a person claims political asylum upon arrival, he will clarify the position obtaining where a person claims political asylum at the point of embarkation on a ship or plane travelling here; and if such a claim, made to a carrier official, is to be ignored if the said official judges that the documentation of the person applying is false or inadequate. [5267/01]

Brendan Howlin

Ceist:

172 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if a non-national may make an application for asylum to an Irish immigration official who is on a boat or plane travelling here and where the boat or plane in question is outside Irish territorial waters or airspace. [5268/01]

Brendan Howlin

Ceist:

173 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if, in view of his acknowledgment in reply to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 1044-49 of 30 January 2001 that some of the persons refused permission to embark at Cherbourg on ferries travelling here after 20 November 2000 may have planned to claim asylum here, it is not therefore the case that such refusals by carriers have had the effect of preventing some asylum seekers from exercising their entitlement under the Refugee Act, 1996, (as amended) to lodge a claim for asylum here. [5269/01]

Brendan Howlin

Ceist:

174 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the procedures to be followed if a passenger embarking on a flight or sailing here states to the carrier's officials his or her wish to apply for asylum here; if he or she will be referred to Irish immigration officials; and, if not, if he will instruct carriers into Ireland that this should be done. [5270/01]

Brendan Howlin

Ceist:

175 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will instruct Irish immigration officials at Cherbourg to receive asylum applications. [5271/01]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 171 to 175, inclusive, together.

Applications for refugee status are governed by the provisions of the Refugee Act, 1996, as amended, which was commenced in full by me on 20 November 2000. Section 8(1) of that Act provides for the making of an application for a declaration that a person is a refugee to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in certain circumstances. Those circumstances are where the applicant arrives at the frontiers of the State, section 8(1)(a), or where the applicant is in the State whether lawfully or unlawfully, section 8(1)(c). Section 9(1) of the Act requires that an applicant who has applied at the frontiers of the State be given leave to enter the State, and section 9(2) gives an asylum applicant an entitlement to remain in the State until the application has been dealt with.

There are no provisions in the Refugee Act which would give the Act extra-territorial effect, nor is there any entitlement under the Act for a person to apply for asylum other than in the circumstances I have outlined. Consequently the question of instructing Irish immigration officers to accept asylum application in circumstances other than those which I have outlined does not and cannot arise.

Whether a carrier decides to accept a person as a passenger on board a ship or an aircraft is a matter between the carrier and the person concerned; this is the case whether or not the intending passenger tells the carrier the purpose of the journey. I have no power to direct a carrier operating outside the jurisdiction of the State to accept or refuse a person as a passenger, irrespective of any purpose which may be expressed by that person.

It is not unreasonable to speculate, as I did in my response to Parliamentary Question Nos. 1044-49 on 30 January 2001, that some of those whom the ferry company declined to accept as passengers may have planned to claim asylum, some may have planned to take up employment illegally and others may have intended to use this country as a transit point for the United Kingdom. I remind the Deputy that any such person who wished to seek asylum would be in a position to make the necessary application to the French authorities or to the authorities in the EU state through which he or she first entered the territory of the European Union. This approach is reflected in the principles underpinning the Dublin Convention to which all EU states are parties.