MORE than €1.2 million was paid out by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) to lawyers of asylum seekers suing the state for refusing to allow them to stay in the country.

The number of asylum seekers wanting refugee status has fallen to a 15-year low.

A MAN’s life has been left in asylum-seeking limbo for 14 years, while he has attempted to navigate the broken asylum system which has been threatening to deport him since 2000.

IRELAND could be subject to Europe-wide legislation on the treatment of separated minors seeking asylum, the United Nations refugee agency has said.

THERE were 2,689 applications for refugee status received by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) last year — a 30% decrease on 2008 figures.

GARDA power to hold on to fingerprints of suspects indefinitely is due to end under planned changes to the law, the Irish Examiner understands.

IRELAND has been accused by American authorities of failing to properly tackle human trafficking, as new figures also show a fall in asylum applications and legal challenges to refugee decisions.

REFUGEES are being put off from seeking a safe haven in Ireland following changes in the asylum process that identifies those who have already sought sanctuary in another European country.

Around 360 refugees sought asylum in Ireland every month last year, new figures revealed today.

OVER 5% of asylum seekers who applied to stay in Ireland last year made their applications from their prison cells.

FINE Gael has called for the asylum system to be overhauled to ensure applicants do not have to endure “an endless legal limbo”.

A humanitarian quota system should be set up to give asylum to 1,000 victims of conflict or natural disasters each year, it was claimed today.

The threat of deportation is deterring more and more refugees from seeking asylum in Ireland, it was claimed today.

A TOTAL of 1,117 people were refused entry to Ireland in the first three months of this year.

TWO letter writers (Irish Examiner, November 1) do not want people deported who had applied for residency before January 2003 on the basis that they had had a child in Ireland.

APPLICATIONS for asylum fell by a third last year, according to official figures published yesterday.

The number of people seeking asylum in Ireland has dropped by almost a third over the last year, it emerged today.

REFUGEE groups last night welcomed a new deal agreed by the Department of Justice for the provision of all refugee translation services.

REFUGEE groups last night expressed concern that asylum seekers can be held in prison for up to 21 days from Monday following changes to the law.