Man left in asylum limbo for 14 years

A MAN’s life has been left in asylum-seeking limbo for 14 years, while he has attempted to navigate the broken asylum system which has been threatening to deport him since 2000.

The man, who has a nine-year-old son, was in his 20s when he first sought refugee status in April 1997.

Fourteen years later he is still stuck in the system and is now a middle-aged man. One of more than 11,000 people trapped in the asylum process, he has not been able to work in all that time and says he is worn out from the stress and threat of deportation every day.

For the last three years, he has been attending the Garda National Immigration Bureau monthly, waiting for travel arrangements to be made for his deportation.

According to Labour TD Joe Costello, who is advocating for the man, the Government owes it to people who have spent such excessive periods awaiting a decision to deal with their outstanding applications immediately.

He said it is “contrary to natural justice” to keep any human being in such a situation for 14 years.

Under the current asylum system, applicants are sometimes forced to wait more than five years for a final decision on their status.

There are currently 6,042 asylum seekers living in hostel-style accommodation, called direct provision.

More than 2,120 of those are under 18. More than 1,200 are under four years of age. According to the latest figures from the Reception and Integration Agency, 2,774 have been here for more than three years.

A further 1,239 have been living in hostels for between two and three years.

However, there are 5,500 people living outside the direct provision system whose cases are also lingering in the system.

Ireland has the strictest regime for granting asylum within the EU.

The Government rejected nearly 99% of asylum claims in the third quarter of 2010. Between July and September, the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) rejected 370 of 375 claims and granted five. The European norm for acceptance is 25%.

Claimants first apply for asylum through ORAC, and then they can appeal through the Refugee Appeals Tribunal (RAT). The RAT cost the state more than €3m in 2009 and 2010.

Nasc, an immigrant support group, said long-term stress is a reality for asylum-seekers, who worry about the outcome of their applications, often for years at a time. Many are frustrated they cannot study or work.

Single women share rooms with several others, while those with husbands and children live with their families in one room.

Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has promised to introduce “comprehensive reforms of the immigration, residency and asylum systems”.

Speaking about the individual case highlighted, the Mr Shatter said he had been advised by the GNIB that the man’s removal would be effected as soon as the practical arrangements could be made.

He said in the circumstances where a deportation order had been in place for such a long period, he could not intervene.