In 1995, 424 people sought asylum in Ireland. Two years later the annual figure had risen almost tenfold to 3,883. That year saw 516 cases decided by the Department of Justice. By the end of February this year 4,613 applications were waiting for processing.
There are two ways of looking at these figures. One is to note the obvious fact that the number of asylum-seekers has risen rapidly. The other is to see how few of applications are being processed.
Next month will mark two years since the passing of the Refugee Act. The Minister who steered it through the Dail, Ms Joan Burton, said the Act was needed in the light of the growth in the numbers seeking asylum in Ireland.
However, the Act was not implemented. In the meantime there was considerable evidence of the need for some government action. For example, in February 1997 nine Liberians were found stowed away on a ship which docked in Waterford. They were allowed to seek asylum.
Pressure on facilities became noticeable, with health centres and temporary accommodation coming under strain from the volume of people they had to deal with. Ms Burton said the Department of Justice was working on the backlog. Ms Aine Ni Chonaill announced her candidacy in the general election on an anti-immigration platform.
The Dublin Convention, which means an asylum-seeker can be sent back to the first EU state in which they landed, was passed by the Dail. As there are very few direct flights from Africa and eastern Europe to Dublin, this was likely to provide an excuse for deporting many asylum-seekers when their cases came to be heard.
Just before leaving office, the then minister for justice, Mrs Nora Owen, enacted regulations which ended the regime of free travel between the UK and Ireland, and empowered immigration officials to stop and deport back to Britain non-EU nationals they felt were seeking to enter the country illegally. The measure, which allowed for no appeal, was criticised by the UN High Commission for Refugees.
In July the new Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, said he would be bringing proposals on the refugee issue to Government shortly. That month, too, it was revealed in The Irish Times that the implementation of the Refugee Act, which requires the appointment of a Commissioner for Refugees, was being held up by an injunction taken by a former minister for justice, Mr Patrick Cooney. A defence to the injunction has just recently been lodged by the Department of Justice.
Democratic Left proposed a Private Members' Bill which would clear up the backlog of asylum applications by granting an amnesty to all applicants. It was opposed by the Government. On April 15th The Irish Times reported that Mr O'Donoghue was drafting new legislation with stiffer penalties for trafficking in refugees and for employing illegal immigrants, and was considering limiting access to Irish citizenship. The Minister had already said he expected 90 per cent of asylum applications to be refused.
Last month, following a number of attacks on black people in Dublin, gardai warned asylum-seekers in some parts of the city to stay indoors for their own safety. The Government announced the setting up of a committee to combat racism.
None of the proposals to have come from the Government over the past two years has reflected the concerns of international human rights organisations or local groups working with refugees.