A group of 47 Romanians, including 20 children, has been discovered by gardai after being smuggled into Rosslare in two container lorries.
The Romanians were found in a search of lorries from a ferry that had arrived from the French port of Cherbourg shortly after 7 p.m. on Thursday. The authorities were unable to find accommodation for the group, as B&Bs and hotels were filled with holidaymakers.
A spokesman for the South Eastern Health Board said the children were in good health and the Romanians were given sleeping bags and put up in a St Vincent de Paul hall in the town. They were interviewed by immigration officials yesterday.
It is believed to be the first time large numbers of children have been smuggled into Ireland in containers. Gardai are aware of just one other child arriving in this way, with parents in a separate group. Most Romanians smuggled into Ireland are young men, some of whom have spent a number of days in containers.
A Garda source in Wexford said the new arrivals bring to 200 the number of Romanians in the town. Up to 100 have been detained in Rosslare after travelling from Cherbourg in the last two weeks. A group of 17 was discovered on Monday, another eight last Saturday and a third group of 25 five days earlier.
A source in the Department of Justice said applications for political asylum would probably be dealt with under the Dublin Convention. This stipulates that asylum-seekers must apply in the first European country they enter after fleeing their home country.
This week the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, announced that the number of staff for processing asylum applications is to be almost doubled. The Government had approved a further 72 staff for his Department to handle its increased asylum and immigration workload. As soon as they are assigned, about 170 staff will be exclusively involved in asylum and immigration casework.
There are currently over 5,800 asylum applications to be dealt with. The current rate of application is about 100 a week.
The amount spent by the Department on dealing with applications from asylum-seekers for refugee status has risen dramatically from £370,000 last year to nearly £4.17 million this year, not including costs incurred by other Departments.
Twenty people, including nine Romanians, have been deported from Ireland since January after their applications for political asylum failed. Eleven of the 20 were deported under the Dublin Convention.
An asylum-seeker can appeal the Convention ruling to the independent appeals officer, a Dublin barrister, Mr Michael O'Shea. This appeal consists of a review of the file of the asylum-seeker, rather than an oral hearing.
It consists of a review of the procedures used in processing an application. Mr O'Shea has no discretion on humanitarian grounds, as he deals only with paperwork rather than directly with the applicant. It is believed that of about 40 such appeals, none has been upheld.