Asylum seekers are not denied a hearing

TWO letter writers (Irish Examiner, November 1) do not want people deported who had applied for residency before January 2003 on the basis that they had had a child in Ireland.

Ann Hayes of Waterford Immigration Network is incorrect when she says "some of them are not being allowed to make their case for asylum".

I checked this with the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) on November 2 and was told that anyone who had withdrawn an asylum application which had not been determined was entitled to reapply, and several have done so. Let's at least try to get our facts right.