One in 20 asylum applications made from behind bars
Friday April 25 2008
ONE in 20 asylum seekers made their application from prison last year, according to new figures.
Although their criminal record cannot be taken into account when processing their application, it is a factor if they apply for leave to remain in the state on humanitarian grounds.
Department of Justice secretary general Sean Aylward said the 225 applications from prison last year accounted for 5pc of the 2,236 cases in the system at present. He estimated that 10pc of asylum seekers were genuine, but declined to describe the rest as "bogus".
The Dail Public Accounts Committee heard that the department was spending €10m annually to fund the cost of legal challenges by asylum seekers and a further €10m to pay for the cost of defending them.
The number of asylum applications has dropped from about 6,500 in 2001, to around 2,200 so far this year. Mr Aylward attributed the decline to a number of factors, including the referendum changes on Irish-born children and better use of European fingerprinting databases and UN refugee data to "explode the credibility" of applicants. He said 17pc of applicants disappeared before the process was completed and 11pc were found to have applied for asylum in other EU countries.
- Michael Brennan
