Written Answers. - Refugee Status.
Joe Costello
Ceist:
566
Mr. Costello
asked the
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
if his attention has been drawn to the criticism of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal contained in the recent report of the Irish Refugee Council, Asylum in Ireland: the Appeal Stage; if he will implement the recommendations of the report; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[24867/03]
The Deputy is referring to the report entitled Asylum in Ireland: The Appeal Stage – A Report on the Fairness and Sustainability of Refugee Determination at Appeal Stage commissioned by the Irish Refugee Council.
As the Deputy is aware the Refugee Appeals Tribunal is an independent body established by the Refugee Act 1996 to determine an appeal from a recommendation of the Refugee Applications Commissioner in respect of an application for a declaration of refugee status. I have been assured by the chairperson of the tribunal that in so far as the recommendations of the report are the responsibility of the tribunal, these will be given detailed consideration.
The tribunal was established in November 2000 and has made a significant contribution within its statutory framework to the Government's asylum processing strategy and to ensuring that the State meets its obligations under the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the status of refugees. Significant additional resources have been allocated to the tribunal since its establishment both in terms of members and support staff. This has resulted in a significant increase in the number of appeals being completed with some 5,551 appeals completed in 2002 as compared to 3,428 in 2001. As at 30 September 2003, some 3,761 appeals have been dealt with so far this year. Of the total of 2,800 appeals case load on hand in the tribunal at the present time, only some 857 appeals are over six months old and these are at an advanced stage of processing.
All of this is a significant achievement and I wish to pay tribute to the chairperson of the tribunal, to its members and all its staff for the important work they are doing. Their task is especially difficult given the many challenges which our asylum process is facing at the present time due, in particular, to the high number of unfounded applications which are being made.
While I can assure the Deputy that the recommendations in the report will be given consideration as part of the normal policy development process, I would point out that a number of the recommendations either do not correctly reflect the law as it stands at present or are already addressed in one way or another at the present time.
The statutory independence of the tribunal is clearly enshrined in the Refugee Act 1996 and has been further enhanced by additional powers given to the chairperson to manage the business of the tribunal which were contained in the Immigration Act 2003. The Immigration Act 2003 has also amended the 1996 Act to: clarify the jurisdiction of the tribunal in relation to the publication of decisions and, in particular, provides that the chairperson may, at his or her discretion, decide not to publish a decision which in his or her opinion is not of legal importance; provide the chairperson with additional powers in relation to the management of the business of the tribunal and, in particular, specifies that he or she may from time to time issue guidelines or guidance notes generally on the practical application and operation of the provisions, or any particular provisions, of the 1996 Act and on developments in the law relating to refugees; and require the tribunal in assessing the credibility of an applicant for the purposes,inter alia, of the determination of an appeal, to have regard to a number of factors such as whether the applicant has provided a full and true explanation of how he or she travelled to and arrived in the State, whether an applicant has provided a reasonable explanation for the absence of identity documents or where an applicant has forged, destroyed or disposed of any identity or other documents relevant to his or her application and whether he or she has provided a reasonable explanation for so doing. It is only reasonable that both the Refugee Applications Commissioner and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal in assessing a persons credibility should have to have regard to factors such as this which could call into question the genuineness of an asylum seeker.
All appeals have suspensive effect except, as a result of another amendment in the 2003 Act, those covered by section 22(1) of the Refugee Act 1996. These cover,inter alia, asylum applications covered by EU Regulation (EC) No 343/2003 of 18 February 2003 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the member state responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in one of the member states by a third country national and those from designated safe third countries.
In relation to other recommendations in the report, I can tell the Deputy that comprehensive legal advice is already provided to asylum applicants at all stages in the asylum process including in preparing applicants for appeals hearings. In respect of those applicants who are clients of the Refugee Legal Service, the RLS also provides a legal presence – a barrister or a solicitor – at those hearings. The budget for the RLS has been increased from €1.3 million in 1999 to some €9 million in 2003. I have already addressed the resources issue in relation the tribunal itself with a major investment both in terms of additional members and staff having been made over the past three years in particular.
The quality of interpretation services for asylum seekers is kept under constant review by my Department and the asylum agencies. There are over 100 nationalities in the asylum process and my Department has recently completed an EU wide tendering process which has resulted in new contracts being signed with service providers for the provision of more comprehensive interpretation and translation services for,inter alia, applicants and agencies in the asylum process.
In relation to the recommendation in the report on sensitivity to gender, I am informed that tribunal members have attended UNHCR training courses which address this issue.
