Written Answers - Asylum Applications.
Dick Spring
Ceist:
41
Mr. Spring
asked the
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
the steps being taken to ensure that all information required by asylum seekers is available in a range of languages; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[11012/01]
On making an application for a declaration as a refugee at the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner the following documents are issued to applicants:
Information leaflet for Applicants for Refugee Status in Ireland; Notice under Article 3 (3) of the Dublin Convention; questionnaire in connection with the Application for a Declaration.
In addition, a Refugee Legal Service information leaflet is prepared by the Refugee Legal Service and is issued to applicants by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner. These documents are available in 24 languages, Albanian, Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, English, Farsi, French, Hindi, Hungarian, Kurmanji/Turk, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Sorani/Iraqi, Spanish, Tamil, Thai, Turkish and Urdu. Notices are also posted in the office in a range of languages to assist applicants in accessing correct and relevant information. The Refugee Appeals Tribunal provides a procedure for appeal against a negative recommendation or determination of the Refugee Applications Commissioner who considers an application for a declaration as a refugee at first instance.
An information leaflet setting out the applicant's rights under the appeals process is sent to the applicant with the recommendation or determination of the commissioner in a language that the applicant understands. Again, the information leaflets are available in 24 different languages. The Reception and Integration Agency, formerly the Directorate for Asylum Support Services, co-ordinates the system of direct provision and the resettlement of asylum seekers throughout the country. Under the arrangements currently in place asylum seekers are accommodated at initial reception centres in Dublin for a period of one to two weeks for the purposes,inter alia, of needs assessment, the provision of information and the processing of the initial stages of their asylum applications, before being resettled at other locations around the country. The information packs distributed to newly-arrived asylum seekers at reception centres are currently available in 21 languages – Albanian, Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, English, Farsi/Persian, French, Hindi, Hungarian, Kurmanji, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Tamil, Turkish, Kurdish Srani and Urdu. Before being resettled at accommodation centres around the country asylum seekers are provided with information about the centre and about the locality. This information is available in the nine main languages of asylum seekers in Ireland, Albanian, Arabic, Czech, English, French, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian and Russian. The need to make information leaflets available in additional languages is kept under ongoing review in the light of the number of nationalities in the asylum process.
