Asylum

At the beginning of this month, 285 people seeking international protection were moved from a makeshift campsite outside the International Protection Office (IPO) in Dublin’s Mount Street. Weeks later, 55 asylum seekers set up camp along the Grand Canal just hours after another tent clearance.

The UN's refugee agency has urged the Irish and UK governments not to leave asylum seekers in "legal limbo" amid an escalating diplomatic row. The Irish government this week announced plans to bring forward legislation designating the UK as a safe country to which asylum seekers can be returned.

Ministers have agreed to change the law to allow failed asylum seekers to be returned to the UK. A bill to amend the International Protection Act 2015 will be brought to the Oireachtas after the High Court found in March that the UK's post-Brexit designation as a safe country for asylum returns was

Ireland should not "mimic the UK" by seeking to turn away asylum seekers, human rights campaigners have said amid an escalating row over arrivals to Ireland from the UK. The Irish government has said it believes around 80 per cent of international protection applicants who have arrived in Ireland in

The Department of Justice has been challenged to explain how it determined that 80 per cent of asylum seekers arriving in Ireland in recent months have come via the UK. Justice minister Helen McEntee is expected to bring legislation to the Oireachtas providing for the designation of the UK as a 'saf

Asylum claims from Nigeria are to be prioritised for at least the next three months under a new government policy. From today, the International Protection Office (IPO) will prioritise and accelerate applicants from the country of origin with the highest number of applications in the previous three

Dr Mariza Avgeri, a graduate of Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology's PhD programme, has been named joint winner of the prestigious European Law Faculties Association (ELFA) award for the best doctoral thesis on European law for 2023. The ELFA thesis award "seeks to stimulate and recog

The Irish government has welcomed the EU's approval of major reforms to European migration and asylum policy, despite fierce criticism from human rights campaigners. In a series of votes passed by varying margins, the European Parliament yesterday adopted 10 legislative texts which collectively impl

The High Court has determined that the minister of justice's designation of the UK as a ‘safe third country’ was unlawful and ultra vires her powers due to the absence of certain safeguards required by EU law. Delivering judgment for the High Court, Ms Justice Siobhán Phelan deter

The Irish government is reportedly considering the establishment of a dedicated agency for migrant accommodation. A scoping exercise has already been completed and work is now taking place to examine "the feasibility of establishing such a migration accommodation agency", The Irish Times reports.

The Irish government has said it will seek to opt-in to measures in the EU Asylum and Migration Pact. The decision will lead to the full repeal of the International Protection Act 2015 and the introduction of a new asylum regime with legally binding timeframes for decisions as well as a greater focu

Controversial UK legislation providing for the permanent deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda may not now be enacted before Easter. MPs yesterday voted to undo 10 amendments to the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill which were made in the House of Lords earlier this month.

A Palestinian citizen of Israel is to be granted asylum in the UK on the basis that he has a well-founded fear of persecution if returned to Israel. The decision in respect of the 24-year-old, dubbed 'Hasan' by his lawyers as his real identity cannot be disclosed for his own protection, came less th

More than 1,000 people seeking asylum in the State are without accommodation, according to new government figures which the Irish Refugee Council has described as indicative of an emerging humanitarian crisis. The figures also show that very few people in that position are subsequently being accommo

Algeria and Botswana will be designated as safe countries of origin for the purpose of asylum claims from tomorrow, justice minister Helen McEntee has announced. While people from safe countries are still entitled to apply for international protection and have their application considered thoroughly