Reports of asylum seeker `clear-out' denied by Department of Justice

The Department of Justice has dismissed a suggestion it was preparing a pre-Christmas "clear-out" of asylum-seekers. The claim was made in a weekend newspaper report and repeated by speakers at a rally in Dublin against continuing deportations.

A Department spokesman denied it was attempting to expedite the processing of asylum applications before the introduction of a new legal aid scheme at the end of January. He also defended the asylum application procedures after speakers at the protest said they were neither fair nor independent.

Mr Michael Farrell of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties said there should be no deportations until all asylum-seekers were afforded legal representation and were heard, in the first instance, by an independent commissioner. Currently, asylum applications are heard first by Department officials. Applicants can appeal the Department decision to an independent authority comprising two barristers. The Department spokesman said: "In all cases the recommendations of the appeals authority have been accepted by the Department." He added that the application procedure had been described as "model" by officials from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and that it mirrored the provisions of the Refugee Act, which had yet to be implemented.

But Mr Farrell said asylum-seekers' chances of success were reduced by the fact that they were interviewed first by Department officials.

"The equivalent of the Department of Justice in these people's countries is the Department of the Interior, which is exactly what they are trying to escape from. Obviously, they are going to be reluctant to talk and tell the full story if there is not an independent, proper procedure from the start."

More than 500 people took part in the protest, which was organised by Asylum Rights Alliance, an umbrella organisation of development, church and human rights groups.

Another speaker, Ms Liz McManus TD of Democratic Left, said it was wrong to stop asylum-seekers from working while their applications were being processed. "The reason they are being prevented is that the Minister is fearful that they will become involved in Irish life and, in effect, stop being statistics and start being human beings.

"It's not so easy to deport people when they have become someone's neighbour, friend or work colleague," she said, citing the example of the Costina family whose deportation order was quashed after a public outcry.

Other speakers included Mr Joe Higgins TD of the Socialist Party, journalist Eamonn McCann and a representative of the Roma people.

The Department spokesman also rejected claims made in a Sunday newspaper report that 80 per cent of asylum-seekers were not turning up for interviews.

He said figures showed the proportion was closer to one-third, adding that there were "a multiplicity of factors" to explain non-appearances.