Speech by Mr Michael McDowell, T.D., at the publication of the First Annual Report of the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner

I am very pleased to be here today to launch the First Annual Report of the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner.

The Office of the Commissioner has now been operating since November 2000 when it was established along with the Refugee Appeals Tribunal under the Refugee Act, 1996 to take forward, within a new statutory framework the processing of applications for refugee status.

The Government views the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner as having a vital role to play in what is very much an integrated end-to-end asylum process. This process has been put in place and substantially resourced by the Government to deal with applications for asylum from the time they are made, including at first instance and appeals, right through to the repatriation of those applicants who have been found not to be entitled to refugee status and the integration of those applicants who obtain such status.

In addition to the role of the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal in this process, important contributions are also being made by the Reception and Integration Agency of my Department and the Garda National Immigration Bureau. The Reception and Integration Agency co-ordinates the provision of services, including accommodation, for
asylum seekers and also co-ordinates the implementation of integration policy. The Garda National Immigration Bureau has a vital role to play in such areas as the implementation of immigration controls generally, enforcement of deportation orders and countering illegal immigration, trafficking and smuggling of persons.

Finally, and because of my responsibility to the Government and the Oireachtas for the present statutory framework and for the efficient and effective use of the significant resources which are being deployed in the asylum process, my own Department has a critical role to play in terms of policy development at national and EU level, leading the implementation of the Government's overall asylum strategy and ensuring that all the parts of the asylum system are operating in an integrated manner, within the present statutory framework, through the optimum use of public resources.

The key elements of the Government's asylum strategy were again highlighted in the Agreed Programme for Government and include the processing of all new asylum applications within six months and increasing the rate of repatriations of unsuccessful asylum applicants which we view, as does the UNHCR, as central to the integrity of any effective asylum process. We will also continue to ensure that the Reception and Integration Agency works effectively to fulfil its mandate, particularly in relation to direct provision and dispersal arrangements which will continue to form the basis on which the needs of asylum applicants are provided for in the State pending a final determination of their applications.

Finally, the Refugee Legal Service will continue to have an important role to play in ensuring that asylum applicants receive the necessary legal advice in connection with their applications at all stages in the process.

Considerable progress has been made since November 2000 in the processing of applications for asylum. The Office of the Commissioner had finalised almost 12,600 cases up to the end of December 2001 and the main focus of that Office will shortly be on applicants who applied in 2002, many of whom have already been interviewed or scheduled for interview. The number of asylum applications which are over six months old is also decreasing very significantly with only 2,300 such applications in the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal at the end of June 2002 as compared with some 6,500 applications in this category at the end of September last. The vast majority of these applications are in the final stages of processing. This is indeed very significant progress.

The substantial additional resources which have been allocated to the asylum area by the Government over recent years with over 300 staff attached to the Application Commissioner's Office alone, has contributed to the progress made to date in the processing of asylum applications. However, a critical element in the achievement of this progress has also been the hard work and dedication of the Commissioner herself and of her staff. I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the Government and on my own behalf to thank both the Commissioner and her staff for their continued dedication and commitment in this regard.

Many thousands of non-nationals have immigrated into this State. I want to emphasise that the vast majority of immigrants whether they come from Europe, Asia, Africa or the Americas are here for the purpose of work or study. No one, therefore, should make assumptions about a person's legal entitlement to reside in this State because of skin colour, or the fact that he or she speaks a language other than English. Among those many thousands of people, there are those who are seeking asylum and the protection of the State. They are a tiny minority of the total, they comprise less than 20% of immigrants from non-EEA countries. And those who are entitled to protection from persecution will receive that protection from our State. We must never lose sight of these facts when we are dealing with asylum issues.

The 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its related 1967 Protocol is the foundation stone in terms of international legal instruments in the area of refugee protection. This State is fully committed to its obligations under the Convention by ensuring that we provide a fair and transparent asylum process, protection quickly to those who require it and that we integrate persons granted refugee status into our society as quickly as possible. This commitment was most recently restated at international level in the Ministerial Declaration adopted by States Parties to the Convention at its 50th Anniversary celebrations organised by the UNHCR in Geneva in December last.

However, in addition to meeting our obligations under the Convention, we also have a duty to those genuinely in need of protection to address the many challenges being faced by the whole area of refugee protection and by national asylum determination systems in general at the present time. These challenges are of particular relevance to countries such as Ireland which have seen large increases in asylum applications over recent years many of which have been judged by fair and transparent determination procedures to be unfounded.

Such challenges for the refugee protection system, highlighted in the Ministerial Declaration adopted last December, include factors such as ongoing violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, the high cost of hosting asylum seekers and maintaining asylum determination systems, the growth of associated trafficking and smuggling of persons, the problems of safeguarding asylum systems against abuse by those who do not qualify for asylum but who use the asylum channel in the hope of entering countries for economic purposes, and of returning those not entitled to or in need of international protection.

At the present time, Ireland, along with many other EU States, is experiencing the growing misuse of our refugee determination process by people seeking the protection of the Geneva Convention with the sole purpose of evading legitimate immigration controls in order to gain a foothold in the State for economic purposes. This has meant that our asylum process, the principal purpose of which should be to help the genuine refugee, must cope with large numbers of claims which are in effect unfounded and which are tying up large amounts of resources which could be used much more effectively for the purpose, for example, of developing more integration initiatives for refugees or improving the quality of our support services to refugees and immigrants generally.

Unless we continue to address these critical issues they have the potential to undermine long term public support for the key principles of the 1951 Geneva Convention.

In 2001, some E200m was spent by the Government on services for asylum seekers. This very substantial level of expenditure, and the financial burden it imposes on the Exchequer, requires that every effort is made to ensure that abuses by non-genuine applicants are dealt with as effectively and as promptly as possible. A multi-faceted, multi-agency approach to the issue of asylum, and real and effective co-operation between all State agencies involved in the process is central to the success of the Government's asylum strategy.

In advancing the Government's strategy, key asylum priorities in the period ahead will include

continuing to ensure that applications are dealt with fairly and promptly including through the use, where required, of fast-track procedures for manifestly unfounded applications.
continuing to keep the legislative framework for dealing with asylum applications under review and to bring forward any necessary amendments as required in line with best international practice.
continuing t o develop strategies and an enhanced legal framework to reduce the level of abuse of the asylum process. Abuse of the process which ties up resources which could be more productively utilised is particularly noticeable in the high non-attendance rate at interview and the numbers who leave our direct provision arrangements without trace at a very early stage after making their asylum applications.
ensuring, through liaison with the Office of the Commissioner and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, that the quality of decision making is kept under review and is improved as the need arises.
ensuring that decisions taken result in either the integration of those individuals who obtain refugee status or the return and readmission of those found not to be in need of protection. As I have indicated, the repatriation of failed asylum seekers, subject to our refoulement obligations, is absolutely essential to counter misuse of our asylum procedures and to maintain the integrity of our national asylum system.

There are many challenges for us all in the period ahead in the area of refugee protection. The Government'ss duty is to ensure that we have the strategies and statutory framework in place to respond to and deal with those challenges in an effective, fair and planned manner.

As the Commissioner's First Annual Report indicates, much has been achieved since November 2000. This has been a very important contribution to the Government's overall strategy and with the level of resources in place and the expertise developed to date I am confident that we can build on and accelerate that level of progress.

Once again, I would like to thank the Commissioner for inviting me here today to launch this Report.

Thank You.