Nearly 1,100 deportation orders have been issued to asylum seekers over the past six months, with plans for charter planes to enforce removals now at “an advanced stage”.
The number of deportation orders is increasing amid a continuing effort by the Government to toughen up immigration policies.
Taoiseach Simon Harris has stated on a number of occasions this year that there is a need to focus on faster processing times and “effective deportations” for asylum seekers who do not have a right to reside in the State. If the current trend continues, the State is on track for a record level of deportation orders in 2024 – potentially well in excess of 2,000 – which would be the highest number in the last four years.
Enforced deportations are now up 128 per cent and voluntary returns are up 157 per cent to mid-July, when compared with the same period last year.
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The Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) is responsible for carrying out inquiries to confirm that people have removed themselves from the State. The bureau works with the Department of Justice to enforce deportations where this is not the case.
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In 2023 the GNIB removed 52 individuals subject to deportation orders from the State, which was a 100 per cent increase compared with 2022. The Department of Justice said the level of enforcement continued to increase this year, with the GNIB personally removing 65 individuals subject to deportation orders as of July 17th.
The department said 1,067 deportation orders were issued up to mid-July. In 2023 in total, there were 948 deportations issued, while the figure for 2022 was 270.
This year, to mid-July, there were 303 voluntary returns among asylum seekers, bringing the total of returns this year to 397.
The Department of Justice said that in addition to the enforced deportations and those who were otherwise confirmed to have left, there was a “much larger number of people” who had complied with the order to leave and had left the State without informing the department.
“However, as there are no routine exit checks at Irish borders to verify if every person has left the State, it is not possible to accurately quantify this number.”
The Government is also progressing plans for charter flights to assist with deportations which will start later this year with the procurement process for this “well advanced”.
This would be expected to lead to a significant increase in the number of deportations as the bureau currently uses commercial flights for such operations.
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