Asylum

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

Danish MPs have defied international condemnation to approve legislation providing for asylum seekers to be transferred to detention centres outside of Europe for processing. The bill, approved in a 70-24 vote yesterday, will amend the Aliens Act to allow Denmark to move refugees to asylum centres i

Asylum seekers and refugees will be able to open accounts at any of Ireland's five retail banks with alternative documentation under new measures. Bank of Ireland announced last month that it would accept specific State-issued paperwork following an intervention by the Irish Human Rights and Equalit

Government plans to restrict asylum claims from people entering the UK without authorisation will place vulnerable children in extreme danger, the Children's Law Centre (CLC) has warned. The UK government confirmed in the Queen’s Speech that it intends to bring legislation to “establish

The Law Society of Northern Ireland has urged Home Secretary Priti Patel to rethink plans to restrict asylum claims from people entering the UK illegally. The UK government confirmed in the Queen's Speech today that it intends to bring legislation to "establish a fairer immigration system that stren

The High Court has quashed a decision by the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) which refused protection for two Albanian nationals claiming to be the victims of political violence. The court held that the IPAT decision was flawed for several reasons, including that certain findings re

Children and families in direct provision are being failed due to a lack of sufficiently robust oversight mechanisms and a "culture of fear" around raising complaints, the Ombudsman for Children's Office (OCO) has said. Launching the report, ombudsman Dr Niall Muldoon said government plans to bring

Asylum seekers can now open a bank account with Bank of Ireland following an intervention by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. The rights watchdog exercised its statutory powers through a formal process called an equality review, which has led to a change in the bank's policies.

The Home Office has come under fire after confirming plans to send asylum seekers to live in "squalor and inhumane conditions" at a former military site. The Napier Barracks site in Kent, run by private contractor Clearsprings Ready Homes, was the centre of controversy earlier this year after nearly

Plans to phase out the direct provision system of accommodation for asylum seekers by 2024 have been set out by the government in a white paper published this morning. Children's Minister Roderic O'Gorman, whose portfolio includes the direct provision system, said the new system will be run "on a no

Ireland's human rights watchdog has been granted permission to act as amicus curiae in a case concerning the National Driving Licence Service’s (NDLS) refusal to permit asylum seekers to exchange their foreign driving licences for Irish ones. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has