Martin Ferris
Ceist:327 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the total number of unaccompanied minors who have applied for asylum since 1998; and the percentage of applications which were successful. [26331/02]
Written Answers. - Asylum Applications.
Martin Ferris
Ceist:329 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of applications for asylum from unaccompanied minors which are still being processed; and the number of those who have disappeared while their applications have been processed. [26333/02]
Martin Ferris
Ceist:330 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of unaccompanied minors who have passed the age of 18 prior to the determination of their application for asylum. [26334/02]
Martin Ferris
Ceist:331 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the breakdown by nationality and gender of unaccompanied minors who have applied for asylum here since 1998. [26335/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 327 and 329 to 331, inclusive, together.
I am informed by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner that the total number of unaccompanied minors who have applied for asylum from 1998 to 30 November 2002 is 1,213. Of these, 110 or 9% have been recommended for refugee status. Details of decisions concerning substantive appeals in respect of unaccompanied minors are only available for the period 1 January 2000 to 13 December 2002 from the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. For this period, of the 132 substantive appeals decided, some 11% were successful.
The number of applications pending in the ORAC is 156 and there are 384 substantive appeals pending in the RAT, the vast majority of which were received in 2002. The number of cases which have been refused due to the applicant not attending for interview at first instance is 160. Statistics are not available on the number of unaccompanied minors who have disappeared at appeals stage.
As many as 428 unaccompanied minors reached the age of 18 prior to the determination of their application for asylum at first instance. The number of unaccompanied minors who reached the age of 18 before their appeal was decided from 1 January 2000 to 13 December 2002 was 210.
The breakdown by nationality and gender of unaccompanied minors who have applied for asylum in the State since 1998 is contained in the following tabular statement:
Applications taken from Unaccompanied Minors by Country of Origin and gender
1998 to 2002 (30/11)
|
Country of origin |
Male |
Female |
Total |
|
Cameroon |
17 |
13 |
30 |
|
DR Congo |
16 |
21 |
37 |
|
Ghana |
15 |
17 |
32 |
|
Moldova |
39 |
12 |
51 |
|
Nigeria |
304 |
236 |
540 |
|
Romania |
63 |
31 |
94 |
|
Sierra Leone |
51 |
17 |
68 |
|
Zimbabwe |
15 |
10 |
25 |
|
Others |
242 |
94 |
336 |
|
Total |
762 |
451 |
1,213 |
Other countries of origin with less than ten applicants are: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Burundi, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Gambia, Georgia, Guinea, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Lithu ania, Macedonia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Pakistan, Palestine, Poland, Russia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Stateless, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Yugoslavia.
For confidentiality reasons arising from section 19 of the Refugee Act, 1996, it is not the normal practice to provide detailed numbers where less than ten applications are received from particular countries to ensure that applicants are not identified.
Martin Ferris
Ceist:328 Mr. Ferris asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of unaccompanied minors who have been deported from the State since 1998. [26332/02]
To date, a total of 15 persons who were unaccompanied minors in the State have been deported under the Immigration Act, 1999. These include three Libyan minors transferred under the Dublin Convention to the United Kingdom where their parents were awaiting the decision of the UK authorities on their applications for refugee status, two Romanian minors transferred under the Dublin Convention to the United Kingdom and one Nigerian minor transferred under the Dublin Convention to Germany. The remaining nine minors were returned to their countries of origin after their cases were considered under section 3 of the Immigration Act, 1999, and section 5 of the Refugee Act, 1996 (Prohibition of Refoulement).
Questions Nos. 329 to 331, inclusive, answered with Question No. 327.