A marked reduction in the number of people from Georgia- seeking asylum in Ireland has been the big factor in a 15.8 per cent decline in applications for the first six months of 2023, compared to the same period last year.
The latest figures issued by the Department of Justice show that the number of people who sought international protection in Ireland between January and the end of June was 5,470, compared to 6,493 in 2022.
Last year, almost a fifth of those, or 1,182 who came to Ireland in the first six months came from Georgia, a country deemed a safe country of origin.
The high number from Georgia, in addition to data which showed that 40 per cent of those who applied for international protection lost or destroyed their passports, led to backbench TDs from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael raising concerns about the integrity of the immigration system. The State’s difficulties in finding accommodation for asylum seekers, and temporary refugees from Ukraine, has also provoked street protests, some infiltrated by anti-immigrant, and right-wing, groups and parties.
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In response to the high number of people arriving from safe countries, the Government introduced a system where applications from those countries were fast-tracked. The Department of Justice also resumed passport checks at the steps of incoming aircraft.
Department of Justice figures for the first six months of 2023 show a dramatic fall in those arriving from Georgia. A total of 427 people from Georgia presented to authorities here in between January and June, only 7.8 per cent of all 5,470 applicants.
The countries from which the highest numbers have arrived this year are Algeria (770); Nigeria (764); Somalia (441) and Afghanistan (428).
While the numbers are about an eighth down on the comparable period in 2022, they are still high in the historical context. The number of people seeking International protection has not been as high since the early years of the century. The then government introduced the controversial direct provision system at that time in response to rising figures.
The monthly figures for 2023 were 1,306 in January but have fallen below 1,000 in each month since then. The lowest figure recorded was 633 in April but the numbers have increased to around 900 for May and June.
In an analysis, the Department of Justice refers to the pressures of dealing with an increased caseload. “While there has been an increase in the number of cases processed, the median time to make a decision for standard cases has been trending slowly upwards (albeit from significant reductions),” he has stated.
“In June 2023 the median processing time to determination was 57 weeks (compared to 41 weeks in January and 36 weeks in December).”
For June 2023 the number of deportation orders signed, for those whose applications for asylum had failed, was 57 and the number of deportation orders issued was 50.
For May the figures were 93 and 23 respectively and for April 2023 it was 80 and 123 respectively
For June 2023 there were six removals from the State completed by the authorities.
