Asylum applications fall-off second highest drop in EU

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

The 2003 Annual Report of the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) said that there were 7,900 applications in 2003, compared with 11,634 in 2002.

ORAC said that 345 people were granted refugee status representing 4.2% of all applicants in 2003.

Launching the report, Justice Minister Michael McDowell noted that the 32% fall in asylum applications was the second highest decrease in the EU last year.

He said this fall was due to new Government legislation and the allocation of additional money to the asylum area.

He said the Department of Justice spent €120 million each year on processing asylum applications and the total annual Government spend was an estimated €340 million.

"The changes made in the Immigration Act 2003 were aimed at ensuring that our asylum process was supported by a streamlined legislative framework to enable it to meet the dual challenge of providing protection speedily to those who require it while, at the same time, dealing with the high level of abuse of our process which has been taking place for a considerable period of time."

He said this was partly illustrated by the fact that over 90% of applications, after independent determination at first instance and appeals and following access to free legal advice, were found not to fit the definition of a refugee. Peter O'Mahony of the Irish Refugee Council (IRC) disputed this figure and said that 15%-20% of all applicants, whose cases were completed either in first instance of on appeal last year, received refugee status.

Figures show that, in addition to the 345 applicants who received refugee status through ORAC, some 825 further applicants who appealed their case to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal were successful.