20% drop in number of people seeking asylum

THE number of applications for asylum is expected to fall by about 20% by the end of the year, the Irish Refugee Council (IRC) said yesterday.

Compared to 11,000 asylum seekers in 2002, the figure this year is unlikely to exceed 8,250.

Until the end of November, 7,553 people had applied for asylum at the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner.