Iraqis fourth largest asylum seeker group

IRAQIS fleeing the looming war in the Gulf are now the fourth largest category of asylum seekers in Ireland, latest figures reveal.

And the Irish Refugee Council (IRC) believes the number of Iraqis seeking asylum here will surge if war breaks out.

Last year 148 Iraqis sought asylum here but with 74 people applying in the first two months of this year, the IRC estimates that as many as 500 could make their way here by the end of the year.

However, the IRC is concerned that up to half of the Iraqis who apply for asylum here are rejected. Even after the appeals stage almost 40% of Iraqis are not deemed to be in sufficient danger to qualify as a refugee.

“Whatever the guidelines for refugee status are, there are surely valid grounds for Iraqis to seek asylum,” said IRC refugee policy officer James Stapleton.

“Nobody can argue that what these people are fleeing is trivial and it would be damaging in the extreme to try and deny it,” he said.

Mr Stapleton said it was unacceptable that up to 50% of Iraqis were deemed to be ineligible for asylum despite the obvious dangers they faced in their own country.

In the first two months of this year 1,121 people of all nationalities claimed asylum in Ireland and of those, 71 were recognised as refugees on first instance. Another 187 cases were accepted after appeals were processed.

“Two-and-a-half times more people are being granted asylum on appeal than in the first instance. That can’t be indicative of a fair system. ” Mr Stapleton said.

“This is an absolute waste of money,” he added, pointing out that €47 million in legal fees was spent processing asylum applications and appeals last year.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said the asylum process was governed by the office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (RAC) and the Department was not responsible for how decisions on asylum were granted.

Many asylum applicants do not present any documentation and claim to be from many different countries.

During the investigation we may form the view that a given applicant is not from the country he or she claims to be from,” the spokesperson said.