THE Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, has decided to clamp down heavily on the flow of immigrants into the Republic via the UK.
From midnight on Saturday, immigration officers at all points of entry will, for the first time, have powers to refuse entry to people who do not meet the "normal criteria", and return them to Britain or Northern Ireland.
Up to now, any person could come to Ireland from the UK or the North without being subjected to any kind of immigration control. According to the Department of Justice, immigrants were availing of the system to come to Ireland illegally.
The chairman of the Irish Refugee Council, Mr Derek Stewart, welcomed the move "in principle" last night. It could assist in "protecting the integrity of genuine asylum seekers and free the asylum section to deal more effectively and speedily with those applying for asylum", he said.
However, he stressed that there had been lengthy delays in implementing the Refugee Act and that a stricter approach by immigration officers could in turn have the effect of stopping some genuine asylumseekers from entering the State.
The Department of Justice currently has 3,000 applications for refugee status on its books. A survey conducted by it in February showed that the majority of asylum seekers were coming through Britain.
It also says that illegal immigrants are availing of the common travel area between the two jurisdictions. But there are wildly differing estimates as to how many of this category live here.
Under international law, persons seeking asylum are obliged to apply in the first "safe country" in which they arrive.
The Government, which yesterday approved an Order from Mrs Owen allowing the new procedures, insists that the new regulations do not in any way conflict with Ireland's obligations under the 1951 UN Convention or Protocol governing the rights of people seeking refugee status.
At a press briefing in Dublin after the Cabinet meeting, the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Justice, Mr Dermot Cole, confirmed that he had written to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in London about the new arrangements.
The UNHCR says that similar arrangements operate in other jurisdictions.
In a letter to the UNHCR representative, Mr Philippe Lavancy, Mr Cole said the Government had carefully reviewed the situation and concluded that, "in order to curb illegal immigration and in order to preserve the integrity of the asylum process, some changes have to be made".
The letter also confirmed that agreement had been reached between the Department and the Home Office that any persons travelling from Britain or the North, who apply for refugee status, may be turned back and their application dealt with by the authorities in the jurisdiction from where they travelled.
In these cases, an immigration officer will inform an official of "at least Assistant Principal Officer rank" of the application for refugee status. The officials will decide whether the applicant should be admitted to Ireland to pursue the claim or be sent back.