Asylum

The High Court has quashed a decision of the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) after it failed to give reasons for refusing to give the case an oral hearing under section 43(b) of the International Protection Act 2015. The IPAT decided that the applicant was not entitled to refugee st

Asylum seekers are now able to apply for driving licenses and learner permits in Ireland following a High Court ruling last month. In his judgment, Mr Justice Mark Heslin said international protection applicants should be considered "lawfully resident" in the State for the purposes of the Road Traff

The Home Office’s so-called ‘turn around’ tactics in the English Channel have not been shown to have a clear legal basis, according to the House of Lords Justice and Home Affairs Committee. In a letter to the Home Secretary, published today, the committee expresses concerns around

Asylum seekers who have been waiting more than two years to have their applications processed will be granted permission to stay in Ireland under a new scheme. Ministers have approved a scheme to regularise thousands of undocumented migrants and their families who are living in Ireland, justice mini

The Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI) has received The Bar of Ireland's annual human rights award. The award recognises MASI's work with those in direct provision and in the community advocating for better legal and social protection, as well as access to state services, including educati

An asylum seeker who feared being kidnapped and chained has been granted a fresh decision by Northern Ireland's High Court after an "unfair" and "irrelevant" ruling by the Secretary of State for the Home Department. The applicant, a citizen of Somalia, successfully challenged the Home Office decisio

Two asylum seekers who were refused permission to exchange their foreign driving licences for Irish ones have succeeded in a High Court challenge. The legal challenge, led by solicitor Stephen Kirwan of KOD Lyons, centred on whether the asylum seekers could prove they are "normally resident" in Irel

A review of processes in the International Protection Office (IPO) and the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) has been completed, ministers have said. The end-to-end review was one of the recommendations of an expert advisory group report published last October and was overseen by a hi

A three-person independent group has been established the report on the government's progress on scrapping direct provision. The government intends to phase out the direct provision system of accommodation for asylum seekers by 2024, following a white paper published earlier this year.

A Trump-era policy forcing asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their claims are processed in the US must be reinstated following a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). The top court refused to grant the Biden administration a stay on a district court injunction pending app

Up to 150 additional humanitarian visas will be made available to human rights defenders in Afghanistan in response to the Taliban takeover, ministers have announced. On scheduled deportations from Ireland, minister of state James Browne said there is "no question of anyone being returned to Afghani

A 12-person programme board has been established to oversee the scrapping of direct provision. Today's announcement is in line with government plans to phase out the direct provision system of accommodation for asylum seekers by 2024, following its white paper set published earlier this year.

Home Secretary Priti Patel's laws to thwart asylum seekers attempts to cross the Channel were dealt a blow yesterday after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it would no longer prosecute migrants. The agreement made between prosecutors, police, Border Force, the National Crime Agency and the H

The Law Society of Ireland has reiterated its call for an end to the non-statutory system of direct provision ahead of UN World Refugee Day on Sunday. A recent submission to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth called for the introduction of a system grounded in th

A move by the UK Home Office to house asylum seekers in a "squalid" military barracks in Folkstone was flawed and unlawful, the English High Court has found. The claim was brought by six asylum seekers who were accommodated in Napier Barracks between September 2020 and February 2021. All o