Number of people seeking asylum falls to mid-’90s level

THE number of people claiming asylum in this country fell to levels not observed since the mid-’90s, the Justice Minister has said.

Announcing provisional asylum figures for 2010, Dermot Ahern said 1,939 asylum applications were received in 2010, representing a 27.9% decrease on the corresponding figure of 2,689 in 2009.

At a peak, in 2002, there were 11,634.