Deportation of rejected asylum-seekers begins to gather pace

The pace of deportation of rejected asylum-seekers has increased significantly over the past few weeks, according to figures from the Department of Justice. The Minister for Justice has signed 49 deportation orders in the first nine months of this year, more than the combined total for the five previous years.

Of these, 42 people have been escorted from the State and a further five are awaiting deportation. Two orders were not enforced after further inquiries were made, the Department says.

A further increase in the rate of deportation is likely over the coming months, with 230 deportation orders having been signed by the Minister. These are usually served after a delay of several months.

Little is known about the fate of deported asylum-seekers. Many of those who arrived through other EU states are returned to those countries, under the rules of the Dublin Convention. Their asylum cases are usually heard then, unless they have already made an application in the state concerned. The rest are escorted by gardai to their home country, usually via London. Because of a dispute over legal representation for asylum-seekers many are not represented by a lawyer and there is no tracking of their circumstances following deportation.

The Minister, Mr O'Donoghue, will not give information on the country of origin of deported persons.

The number of deportation orders served so far this year - 49 - compares with eight last year and seven in 1996. No deportation orders were served in 1996. In each of the previous five years, the number of orders served varied between 10 and 15.

The increase in deportations is due to increased staffing at the Department. More than 70 new staff have been employed in the asylum section and a further 72 are being recruited. Additional resources have also been provided to increase the capacity of the appeals authority. According to the Department, 3,784 asylum-seekers came to Ireland in the first nine months of this year. This is almost as many as arrived in the whole of last year. Of those who came this year, 92 have been granted refugee status and 756 have had their applications refused.

Mr O'Donoghue told the Dail recently that his Department had made a provision of £4.2 million for asylum-seekers this year. The Office of Public Works was spending £3 million on a new "one-stop shop" for asylum applications and the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs would spend about £25 million on benefits for asylum-seekers this year.