Helen McEntee defends claim that 80% of asylum seekers coming from Northern Ireland
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The Justice Minister has said she stands by her claim that more than 80% of asylum seekers arriving in the state have come through the UK despite the Tánaiste saying it was not based on evidence, statistics or data.
Helen McEntee is bringing legislation to Cabinet which will provide for the designation of the UK as a “safe country” to allow asylum seekers to be returned.
Last week, Ms McEntee claimed 80% of asylum seekers are coming into the country from Northern Ireland.
The figure has since been questioned by human rights and refugee organisations while government ministers have also queried the number.
Speaking on Tuesday morning, Ms McEntee said: “I absolutely stand over that figure. What we know, when people do not apply for asylum at our ports of entry, so our airports or our ports, they are applying directly at our (International Protection) offices.
“It has changed over time, like many migratory figures, but what we know now is that over 80% of people who are applying for asylum are applying first at the office, not through the airport, not through the ports.
“So the information from the office is that they’re coming through the border.”
Finance Minister Michael McGrath said the minister will outline the background of her claim.
“I don’t believe anyone is denying that a very significant number of asylum seekers are coming over the border,” he added.
“The precise number and the interrogation of that is a fair question but I have no doubt the minister will outline the background to the statement at the justice committee in relation to that 80%.
“But that’s an issue, of course, government will discuss but there is no denying that it is now a very significant factor.”
Earlier, a think thank warned that an increase in first-time registrations at the International Protection Office (IPO) is not conclusive evidence that there are more asylum seekers coming into Ireland from Northern Ireland.
Government officials, including Taoiseach Simon Harris, said an increase in the number of people presenting at IPO offices rather than Dublin Airport or other ports indicates there is a rise in asylum seekers coming over the land border.
An earlier claim by Ms McEntee that 80% of asylum seekers are coming into the country from Northern Ireland was questioned by human rights and refugee organisations, while Micheál Martin said it was not based on evidence, statistics or data.
On Monday evening, the department said that 91% of applications at the IPO so far in 2024 were made there for the first time rather than an airport or other port.
It said that its operational assessment was that more than 80% of cases of those applying for the first time in the IPO have entered over the land border. This would equate to approximately 73% of all applications this year.
Refugee groups have cast doubt on the figure for the proportion of Northern Ireland arrivals while a think tank said a first-time registration rate of approximately 80% at the IPO would not be “unusual” compared with other years.
Nick Henderson, chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council, said: “We don’t know how the Department of Justice came to the 80% figure and, as far as we know, has not published its methodology.
“Just because a person has not applied for protection at an airport or port it does not automatically mean the person has crossed the border from Northern Ireland.”
The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) also said that data on IPO presentations alone is not conclusive evidence of the route being used or the reason for applying in Ireland as there are many possible reasons why people might apply inland rather than at the border.
The ESRI also said presentations at the IPO compared to ports have often fluctuated significantly.
While noting there is little research on what might drive those fluctuations, an ESRI spokeswoman said that between 2017 and 2021, the percentage of international protection applications made at the IPO fluctuated between 47.6% and 79.5%, with little discernible pattern.
An ESRI researcher also said that “deflection effects” of asylum seekers to neighbouring countries are most common in nationalities that have travelled to both countries.
“The UK is seeing significant increases in asylum applications at the same time as Ireland, many from nationalities that are different to those applying in Ireland (although there are overlaps).
“The report indicated that for nationalities that traditionally applied in both countries, there may be a deflection effect from the UK.
“However, it is very difficult to determine where this is the case without primary data collection with international protection applicants, which this research did not undertake.
“Ireland has historically had much lower asylum applications than other western EU countries in particular, as Ireland experienced a transition to a country of net immigration later than many other western EU countries.”
It comes amid a row between the UK and Ireland over migrants travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, and then into the Irish state.