New measures aimed at asylum seekers from ‘safe’ countries could result in 5,000 applicants leaving State

Strict new measures targeted at people from ‘safe’ countries who seek asylum in Ireland will lead to a potential removal of up to 5,000 people from the State, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has said.

Ms McEntee announced on Tuesday that two new countries – Botswana and Algeria – have been added to the safe country list, bringing to 10 the number of countries in that category.

She also disclosed that the Government had considered adding Nigeria and Pakistan to the list of safe countries, but concluded they did not meet all the criteria.

The Minister has also brought in an additional measure, where people who have already been granted International Protection (IP) in another EU State will go through an expedited procedure in Ireland, on the grounds their application is inadmissible. A person who has been granted protection in one EU State cannot subsequently seek protection in another EU State.

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Ms McEntee said that there were between 1,800 to 2,000 people in the IP system at present who had already been granted protection in the EU. She said that those people had been identified through the Eurodac information system as well as through the various checks at the ports of entry, which show they have status in another country.

Every applicant seeking asylum has their fingerprints taken, and that is checked against the EU-wide Eurodac system to see if they applied for protection elsewhere.

“When you take [the safe country designation of] Botswana, Algeria and this particular process into play, you’re potentially looking at 5,000 people in the system. We’re trying to take people out of the system here that should not be in it, that are taking up space for those who genuinely need protection,” she said.

The Minister was speaking outside Government Buildings on Tuesday afternoon following the meeting of the Cabinet.

Ms McEntee said that her Department looked at a range of criteria when considering if a country is safe, including consistent inhumane or degrading treatment, if there was a war ongoing, or if people’s lives were essentially at risk.

“We reviewed four countries in this instance. For two of those, Pakistan and Nigeria, a decision was taken that we could not say that they were safe countries. For the other two, Algeria and Botswana. I’m very confident in the process that has been undertaken.

“We have seen an increase in people coming from those countries and the vast majority are coming for economic reasons. It’s important to stress that this does not mean people coming from any of the 10 safe countries cannot seek international protection. They can apply, but they will be processed in a much quicker way. Their decisions will be given in a much quicker timeline. And if they have a negative decision, they will be asked to leave, where they will be supported to leave in a much quicker way than what we’ve seen in the past year.”

She said that since the decision was taken to put countries designated as safe into an accelerated process – where decisions are taken within weeks – there has been a decrease of 40 per cent in applications from people from those countries. She said 80 per cent of the applications were refused and, on appeal, 80 per cent of decisions were upheld. She said that the appeal process was also taking place within a much shorter time frame of four to five months, thanks to a significant increase of staff.

“It sends a very clear message that the International Protection system is here for people who genuinely need protection. It should never be used as a back way or a separate route for economic migration.

Ms McEntee said the authorities had seen a sharp increase in the number of people coming from Algeria, which was the fourth highest country of origin at present.

Asked about other Government Ministers expressing views that 15,000 asylum seekers each year was the “new normal”, Ms McEntee said she did not have any overall objective in relation to numbers, other than to ensure an efficient and effective immigration system.

“We went from having around 3,000 applications a year post-Covid. Now it’s closer to 12,000 to 13,000 people a year. That is reflected right across the EU, and right across the globe. There are millions of people on the move. We need to make sure that we have as efficient and effective a system in place as possible to be able to respond to those demands.”

The 10 countries now designated as safe by the Irish Government are: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia, South Africa, Botswana and Algeria.

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