60% drop in asylum applications since January

The number of applications for asylum in the State has fallen by more than 60 per cent in the first two months of the year compared with the same period in 2003.

New data released by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) shows that 755 applications were received up to February 29th, compared with 1,926 over the same period last year.

This year has also seen an acceleration in the rate of deportations, with 161 failed asylum seekers leaving the State in the first two months.

Included in this figure were 53 Romanians and 12 Moldovans ejected from the State in the biggest single multiple deportation in mid-February.

The ORAC data confirms a trend revealed in Department of Justice figures which showed asylum applications fell 32 per cent in 2003 compared with the previous year. In 2002 there were 11,634 applications which decreased to 7,939 in 2003.

Mr Peter O'Mahony, chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council, said the data was "entirely consistent with figures for asylum applications across the indutrialised world."

He said all developed countries saw a drop in applications of 22 per cent in 2002, although in Ireland this figure was higher.

Mr O'Mahony said despite the State not being allowed to deny someone arriving at a port or airport to apply the asylum, there "is a real worry that people who identify themselves at ports or airports are not guaranteed a hearing".

Of the more than 48,500 asylum applications submitted in the last five years, just over 10 per cent were granted. Some 2,073 were granted on first appraisal and 3,149 were granted following the appeals process.

The data also reveals that asylum applications from the two countries with the highest proportion of applicants; Nigeria and Romania have seen a percentage decline in the first 2 months of 2004.

Last year asylum seekers from Nigeria accounted for 40 per cent of all applications, this has dropped to 35 per cent. Applications from Romania dropped from 12 per cent to just over 5 per cent.

Mr O'Mahony said an estimated 8,000 deportation orders have been signed, with 4,800 awaiting to the acted on. The experience of "operation hyphen when more than 2,000 individuals were sought and only 16 located indicates that many of the lists might be out of date, with people having moved on to other countries."