The number of people seeking international protection from Nigeria has fallen dramatically since the Minister for Justice introduced a system in late April to fast-track applications from the country with the highest number of applications.
However, there has been a substantial surge in the number of asylum seekers arriving into Ireland from Jordan over the past four months: reaching a peak in August where Jordanians made up 40 per cent of all international applicants.
In the first four months of 2024, a total of 2,461 Nigerians had applied for asylum in Ireland. That was more than the total number (2,084) who had applied for the full year of 2023, when Nigeria also had the highest number of applicants.
In response, Helen McEntee introduced a system where the asylum seekers from the country with the highest number of applicants in the previous three months would be subject to an accelerated process. In that scenario, applications would be processed within a period of just over 90 days. That system already applied to people from safe countries of origin, which include European Economic Area countries and Algeria.
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Since then, the number of applicants from Nigeria has declined markedly, with 864 for the four months between May and August, a fall of two-thirds in numbers compared with the first four months of the year. From a high of 792 Nigerian applicants during the month of May, it fell to a low of 143 during July.
The system to fast-track applicants was introduced in November 2022 when there was a spike in the number of applications coming from countries deemed to be safe places of origin such as Georgia and Albania. Accelerated processing led to a marked fall in applications from those countries.
In July Ms McEntee announced a further change in the system where applicants from the two countries with the highest numbers over the previous three months would be fast-tracked.
Jordan did not feature among the top five countries of origin for the first four months this year. However, since June in particular, there has been a marked increase in the number of applications: 319 in June; 515 in July; and 674 in August.
Organisations working with asylum seekers say that some of those classed as Jordanian are Palestinian, some of whom are fleeing from the war in Gaza, or from Israeli attacks on the West Bank.
Separately, 873 people have registered as Palestinian with the International Protection Office (IPO) in 2024.
The Department of Justice said the IPO carried out an assessment of the person’s nationality, and each application was assessed on its own merits and took into account UNHCR guidance and information from the current country of origin.
A spokesman also pointed out that the accelerated process did not mean any reduction in the level of protection being given.
“We can give protection more quickly to the people who need it, and it allows us to quickly return those who don’t qualify to be here, to their country of origin,” he said.
People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said a significant number of those classified as Jordanians were actually Palestinian and should be put on an official refugee programme rather than being put on an accelerated process.
“There are a large number of Palestinians living in the West Bank who have Jordanian passports. The people have been subject to brutal assaults and are likely to be fleeing that terrible situation.
“The whole point of an asylum system is to offer refuge and a fair hearing to people who are fleeing the sort of horror that we’re witnessing in Palestine at the moment.
“Having them subjected to a three-month process is not fair. We should be treating them as we have treated those who are fleeing the war in Ukraine, at the very least,” said the Dún Laoghaire TD.
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