Figures show numbers seeking asylum up 20% despite tighter controls

The number of asylum-seekers coming to Ireland rose by 20 per cent last year, in spite of the enforcement of tighter immigration controls, according to new figures.

The Department of Justice says 4,626 people applied for asylum in 1998, up from 3,883 the previous year. This represents about one out of every 100 asylum applications in Europe.

Ireland ranks eighth of 24 European countries for the number of asylum-seekers it accepts relative to population, which is well above the average for the continent. However, nine out of every 10 applications processed by the Department last year were rejected.

According to the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, "significant inroads" have been made into the backlog of about 6,500 asylum cases. The Department employs 150 staff on asylum cases and two lawyers have been appointed as independent appeal authorities.

With the focus turning to the integration of refugees settled in Ireland, Mr O'Donoghue last week said he was allocating £90,000 to the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism to help combat racism.

Mr O'Donoghue was launching the Irish part of a refugee integration campaign organised by the EU and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The campaign, which comprises a series of television, radio and print advertisements and an education pack for young people, aims to promote public awareness of refugee issues through the EU.

The EU Commissioner Mr Padraig Flynn launched the £8 million campaign at European level last November; he was originally expected to launch the Irish campaign, but following the controversy over Mr Flynn's Late Late Show appearance, Mr O'Donoghue was asked to step in.

At the launch, the UNHCR representative for Britain and Ireland, Ms Hope Hanlan, said there was an unprecedented risk of racism and xenophobia taking hold in Europe at present. Too many people were turning their backs on refugees, even in Ireland, where the tradition of tolerance was being challenged daily.

Ms Hanlan said some elements of the media were engaged in a relentless campaign against refugees. She described this as the literary equivalent of the "No Irish need apply" mentality suffered by Irish emigrants in Britain in the past.

She said the media had a key role to play in helping to integrate refugees. "The media can create and it can destroy. Its influence over public opinion is unparalleled." The UNHCR campaign was a challenge to the "rampant sensationalism, the vilification, the distortion of facts that is the public's daily diet as far as refugees are concerned".