Ireland’s Justice Minister, Helen McEntee has said the Irish government will introduce some measures that will favour asylum seekers from unsafe countries.
Irish Independent reports that those in that category will be processed through a fast-tracked international protection system. That step will be part of a further clampdown on record levels of immigration.
The plan was first introduced for people from so-called safe countries a couple of years ago. Applicants from those countries have a decision made on their case within three months.
The minister will bring a memo to the cabinet on Tuesday for a plan to extend a similar program to migrants arriving from unsafe countries.
According to current data, there has been a large number of people from Nigeria seeking international protection in Ireland since the beginning of this year. A third of them said they are seeking asylum after fleeing the country. 2,053 Nigerians have sought asylum in Ireland this year. Due to the high number of people arriving from the country, the Department of Justice will be processing their applications through a fast track system.
It means those with a genuine case will be given protection within three months. Those not seen as having a genuine need for asylum will, however, be given deportation orders. But those given deportation orders may still appeal.
There are concerns in Government over the increasing number of Nigerians seeking protection. The Government believes their increase is due to the post-Brexit clampdown on irregular migration in Britain,
The proportion of applications from safe countries has declined over the past year since the introduction of accelerated processing of applicants from those countries. Fast tracked processing is now applied to migrants from Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Georgia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and South Africa.
The number of people seeking protection from Albania, Algeria and Georgia decreased after the accelerated process was introduced.
The minister will use the International Protection Act to extend the same system to safe countries with the highest number of arrivals. The list will be reviewed every three months on a rolling basis.
