New approach to asylum applications will ‘speed up’ process, says McEntee
By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA
A new approach to processing asylum applications will “speed up” the system, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has said.
It comes as the Minister announced an expansion of a prioritisation system that was first announced in April.
The International Protection Office (IPO) will prioritise cases from the top two countries of origin with the highest number of applicants in the previous three months.
There were 881 international protection applications from Jordan in the second quarter of the year, making it the country with the second-highest volume of applications.
According to the Department of Justice, the number of asylum applications from Jordan has increased significantly: in the first six months of 2023, there were 79 applications from the country.
Over the same period in 2024 this number rose to 1,037.
From Monday, applicants from Jordan will now be processed “on an accelerated basis”.
This comes after a measure announced in April which saw people from a country with the highest number of applicants – Nigeria – in the previous quarter being prioritised and accelerated.
“In April I extended accelerated processing measures to whatever country has the highest number of applicants in the previous three-month period,” Ms McEntee said.
“This country was Nigeria, which has seen a 53 per cent drop in applications since being brought to the accelerated process.
“By expanding this to include the country with the second-highest number of applicants, I am further speeding up international protection processing.
“This country is currently Jordan and so applicants from this country will now be subject to the accelerated process.”
According to figures by the Department of Justice, there were 10,600 asylum applications received in the first six months of 2024.
The top five countries with the most applications to Ireland are Nigeria with 2,999 applications, 1,037 from Jordan, 769 from Pakistan, 664 from Somalia and 649 from Bangladesh.
Ms McEntee said: “Accelerated processing allows for faster decisions so, if a person is entitled to protection, they can get on with rebuilding their lives here in Ireland, and those who do not qualify can return to their own country in a timely manner.
“I will continue to make regular assessments on which applicants will be subject to the accelerated process.
“Migration patterns can shift and change, and we must remain flexible and adaptive to maintain the integrity and efficiency of our immigration system.”
Accelerated processing of asylum applications is also in place for those who have been granted asylum elsewhere in Europe, and for 15 countries of origin deemed “safe” by Ireland.
These are Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Egypt, Georgia, India, Kosovo, Malawi, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Morocco, Serbia and South Africa.
For safe countries, the Department of Justice said there has been a drop of up to 70% in applications from the already designated safe countries since the accelerated process was introduced.