legal and social conditions for asylum seekers and refugees in ...

Female asylum seekers
There is no specific reference to women applicants in either the current Procedures for
Processing Asylum Claims or in the 1996 Refugee Act. The Asylum Division of the Department of
Justice, Equality and Law Reform endeavours to provide female interviewers and interpreters on
request, wherever possible. The Department have stated that they hope to introduce guidelines
for their own staff.
Final rejection
Detention
When his/her application for asylum is rejected following appeal, the applicant is informed that the
Minister intends to issue a deportation order under the provisions of Section 3 of the 1999
Immigration Act. The rejected asylum seeker may then:
– make written representations to the Minister within 15 working days following notification of the
final rejection of his/her asylum application setting out reasons why he/she should be
permitted to remain in Ireland;
– leave the country before the Minister issues the deportation order, but he/she must inform the
Minister of his/her arrangements for leaving;
– consent to the making of the deportation order within 15 working days and the Minister will
then arrange for his/her removal.
In practice, although there may be up to several thousand applicants awaiting a decision, very
few temporary leaves to remain are granted: 27 in 1998 and 39 in 1999.
Once the deportation order has been issued, it is no longer possible to make an appeal to the
Minister on humanitarian grounds. The only legal remedy available at that stage is judicial review.
In 1998, 14 people were deported after final refusal.
Asylum seekers
According to Section 9(8) of the 1996 Refugee Act (not yet implemented), an asylum seeker may
be detained when an immigration or police officer suspects “with reasonable cause” that the
applicant:
– poses a threat to public order or national security;
– has committed a serious crime of a non-political nature outside Ireland;
– has not made reasonable efforts to establish his/her true identity;
– intends to avoid transfer under the provisions of the Dublin Convention;
– intends to leave Ireland and enter another state illegally;
– has destroyed his/her identity documents without reasonable cause.
The 1996 Refugee Act provides that a detained person shall be brought before a judge of the
District Court “as soon as practicable”. If the judge is satisfied that any of the aforementioned
conditions apply, he/she may detain the person for a period of not more than ten days. The judge
may order the release of the person “subject to such conditions as he or she considers
appropriate”.
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Ireland