ASYLUM-SEEKERS: The Government has been asked not to return Iraqi nationals whose claims for refugee status are unsuccessful within the coming three months.
The plea from the UN's refugee agency comes as new figures show a significant increase in asylum applications in Ireland from Iraqis, who were the largest group of asylum-seekers in industrialised countries last year.
Ms Pia Prutz Phiri, senior liaison officer with the UNHCR in Dublin, said the request to the Government not to return rejected refugee applicants to Iraq was in recognition of the current volatile situation there.
"We have shared this with the Government and have no reason to believe that they would not follow our advice," she added.
Ms Prutz Phiri said the UNHCR's position on the issue would be kept under review and updated if necessary.
Seventy-four Iraqi nationals claimed asylum in the Republic in the first two months of this year, making them the fourth largest category of refugee applicants for this period.
Out of the total of 1,926 asylum claimants in January and February, 773 were Nigerian nationals, 235 Romanians and 76 from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Last year, a total of 148 Iraqis sought asylum in Ireland, out of a total of 51,000 Iraqis who claimed refugee status in 37 industrialised countries.
Ms Prutz Phiri said the organisation is currently concentrating its contingency plans for refugees in the event of a conflict in Iraq in neighbouring countries.
She said the UNHCR needs $60 million for its initial contingency preparations for some 600,000 refugees in the event of a conflict in Iraq.
Ms Prutz Phiri stressed the 600,000 figure was not a prediction on the numbers of people who may flee the country.
She said it was "premature" to talk about Ireland offering temporary protection to refugees from Iraq should a war ensue.
"Our contingency plans are based on refugees being allowed to enter countries in the region and it's based on our assistance to governments in the region," she added.
The UNHCR has spent $25.8 million on procurement, transportation and storage of non-food relief items and other measures in the region, she said.It currently has emergency stocks for nearly 300,000 people.