Ireland sees asylum claims rise, deportations go down

The number of asylum claims is set to almost treble by the end of the year.

According to the Irish Times, most of the increase can be attributed to Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals, accounting for more than half of all asylum claims being made here.

Meanwhile, forced removals were down 45% last year - the first full year since the “Omar judgement” that Gardai could not enter private dwellings to detain people for deportation.

The High Court judgement ruled two years ago that gardaí did not have the right to enter private dwellings to arrest those for whom deportation orders had been signed.

In 2012 there were 302 deportations, while in 2013, when the High Court made the "Omar judgement", deportations fell to 209. Last year, forced removals decreased by to 114.

Deportation orders being signed by the Justice Minister Francis Fitzgerald also fell significantly in 2014 - down 57% on the previous year.