Countries to have asylum applications fast-tracked

The Government has designated Croatia and the Republic of South Africa as “safe countries of origin” and will fast-track their asylum applications, it emerged tonight.

Justice minister Michael McDowell said he and Foreign Affairs minister Dermot Ahern had chosen the two states as they were democracies with independent judiciaries and good human rights records.

As from tomorrow, nationals from Croatia and South Africa will have their applications prioritised with quicker interviews and decisions by the Refugee Applications Commissioner.

Appeals in such cases will be dealt with by the Refugee Appeals Tribunal on the basis of papers alone rather than an oral hearing.

The Immigration Act 2003 gave Mr McDowell the powers to designate “safe countries of origin” and to prioritise asylum applications of nationals travelling from there.

He said: “This provides greater scope for more efficient management of asylum applications being made in the State.

“Given that the State is spending over €350m on the asylum and related immigration process annually, the public expect that resources allocated to this area are managed in an efficient and value for money manner.”

Other designated safe countries of origin are the 25 EU member states and Romania and Bulgaria.