McDowell asylum plan ‘disturbing’

HARDLINE tactics to root out bogus asylum seekers by Justice Minister Micheal McDowell were deemed “disturbing” yesterday, as new figures showed a massive fall in the number of people seeking asylum.

The Irish Refugee Council (IRC) said it was concerned about Mr McDowell’s announcement on the weekend about setting up detention centres for ‘high-risk’ applicants. Chief Executive Peter O’Mahoney also questioned the reason behind the radical decision. “Senior civil servants knew nothing about this and it was never mentioned with groups discussing the Immigration Bill in December.”

Mr O’Mahoney suggested the plan may “very well not have been on the ground,” were it not for Opposition leader Enda Kenny’s address to Fine Gael delegates about immigration last week, where he said immigrants convicted of serious crime should be deported.