New procedures for dealing with asylum-seekers are to be introduced when the Minister for Justice implements part of the Refugee Act this week. The changes will align Irish policy on refugees with that in most other EU states, but they are also likely to lead to an even greater backlog of asylum cases. Asylum-seekers will gain a new right of appeal which is likely to delay the time it takes to process an application.
The changes coincide with growing Government concern at a renewed rise in the number of asylum-seekers, in spite of new controls on immigration introduced in June. Last week, the Department of Justice handled 95 applications, as many as before the controls were brought into force.
Mr O'Donoghue has decided to implement a number of sections of the Refugee Act, which was passed by the Oireachtas in June 1996 but never implemented. For the first time, a refugee will be defined in law.
In addition, Mr O'Donoghue will commence the section giving effect to the Dublin Convention, which is due to come into operation in 12 EU states next Monday. This gives asylum-seekers the right to have their case heard in one EU state only.
In most cases, this will be the state in which they first set foot when arriving from outside the EU. Where it can be shown that asylum-seekers have arrived from another EU state, they may be re turned there. So, in the case of asylum-seekers arriving from Britain or Northern Ireland, the Irish immigration authorities may send them back without entertaining their request for asylum.
Although this reflects current practice, the Dublin Convention - so-called because it was agreed at the EU summit in Dublin in 1990 - places new responsibilities on immigration authorities. Under the convention, immigration officials will be obliged to ask asylum-seekers if they have family in the state and to take this into account. The country to which the asylum-seeker is being returned will have to agree to handle the application for asylum before the person can be returned.
At present, Irish authorities are sending back illegal immigrants to the UK without informing British authorities in advance.
The convention also provides a right of appeal in cases where a person's application for asylum is transferred to another country. These appeals will be decided by an independent lawyer, to be named later by Mr O'Donoghue.
This provision is likely to increase the backlog of cases, as gardai have no right to detain people while their appeals are under consideration. At present, there is no right of appeal and rejected immigrants are sent back on the boat, plane or train on which they arrived. The definition of a refugee contained in the commencement order to be announced by the Minister on his return from holidays is based on the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees. It defines a refugee as a person fleeing "a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion".
Mr O'Donoghue will not be implementing those sections of the Act which refer to the appointment of a refugee applications commissioner. This is the subject of High Court proceedings which were brought by a former Minister for Justice, Mr Patrick Cooney.
The Minister is expected to amend other sections of the Act at a later date, in response to changing needs caused by the increase in asylum-seekers coming to Ireland.
