7,000 failed asylum seekers missing

GARDAÍ are unable to trace more than 7,000 failed asylum seekers issued with deportation orders, latest figures from the Justice Department have shown.

Gardaí have not been able to enforce 7,230 — or just over half — of the 13,765 deportation orders signed by the Minister for Justice since January 1999.

This is because the Garda National Immigration Bureau has been unable to find the subjects of the orders to deport them. They have been classified as evaders as a result.

Based on analysis of airport and seaport records, gardaí believe the vast majority of those involved have fled the country rather than be forcibly returned to their home countries.

The figures were supplied by Justice Minister Michael McDowell in response to questions from Labour TD Michael D Higgins.

Mr Higgins had queried assertions by the secretary general of the Department of Justice, Sean Aylward, that the vast majority of asylum seekers were “lying through their teeth” about their backgrounds.

Mr Aylward sparked off a political row when telling the Dáil Public Accounts Committee in June most asylum seekers are economic migrants seeking a better way of life rather than fleeing persecution at home.

At the time, Labour criticised the remarks as prejudicial, saying there were many genuine cases.

But in his recent response, Mr McDowell supported his secretary general’s views. The minister said 90% of asylum applicants were found not to be in need of refugee status.

He said many use the asylum process to gain a foothold in the State “rather than utilising the comprehensive framework we have in place to legitimately gain entry for work purposes”.

“The Government will not shirk its responsibilities to protect our refugee protection system from abuse,” the minister said.

As an example of such abuse, he cited “asylum shopping”, whereby applicants lodge asylum claims in more than one EU state.

Of the 1,720 persons who claimed asylum here from January 1 to mid-May this year, 322 — or roughly one in five — had previously claimed asylum elsewhere.

Another example of “lack of truthfulness”, he said, was the fact that many applicants — 80% during 2005 — claimed they had no identification or travel documents, even though they would have needed them to gain entry to the country.

“The inescapable conclusion is that destruction and concealment of travel documents is a central feature of a well-developed trafficking strategy,” Mr McDowell said.