Refused: 11 out of 12 asylum applications

ASYLUM applications continued to be made at the rate of a dozen a day last year but 11 out of every 12 were refused.

Figures released by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner show that the number of applicants in 2006 was a mere nine less than in 2005, despite a downward trend since numbers peaked at almost 12,000 in 2002.

That was despite a success rate of just one in 12, with only 397 people being granted asylum out of the 4,784 cases finalised during the year.

The relatively low success rate was accompanied by a surge in the number of applicants seeking High Court judicial reviews of the decisions made in their case.

In total, 233 judicial review proceedings were commenced — a 73% increase on the 2005 level.

The commissioner’s office noted that almost half the cases were filed by one firm of solicitors and the most common reasons for seeking High Court redress centred on the individual rights of child applicants as opposed to those of their parents, and on allegations of unfairness in the interview process.

There were more cases finalised last year than there were new cases, allowing the backlog that existed since the late 1990s to be eliminated and for new cases to be finalised within target timeframes.

However, Commissioner Bernice O’Neill highlighted other challenges for staff, including the diversity ofapplications, which meant caseworkers could not specialise in any given country.

“Cases continued to be more complex with some requiring more than one substantive interview. Multiple grounds for claiming asylum were frequently claimed,” she said.

She added: “Lack of interpreter ability in some languages can be a difficulty.”

Nigeria topped the list for the most common country of origin with 24% of applicants claiming Nigerian nationality, followed by Sudan and Romania, each 7%, and Iraq and Iran, both 4%.

Almost one in nine of all applications was deemed to be “withdrawn” due to the failure of the applicant to turn up for interview or to co-operate with the investigation into their case by failing to provide relevant information but the general co-operation level was high with an average interview attendance rate of 87%.

www.orac.ie

Asylum in 2006

New applications: 4,314

Number of countries of origin: 91

Number of languages spoken: 80

Country with mostapplicants: Nigeria (24%)

Male/female ratio: 2:1

Granted asylum: 397