Department of Justice stands by assessment on Northern Ireland asylum seekers

The Irish Department of Justice has stood by an assessment that a majority of asylum seekers are coming into the country through Northern Ireland.

Last week, Minister for Justice Helen 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, and Irish deputy premier Micheal Martin had said it was not based on evidence, statistics or data.

Government officials, including Taoiseach Simon Harris and Ms McEntee, said an increase in the number of people presenting at the International Protection Office (IPO) rather than Dublin Airport or other ports indicates there is a rise in asylum seekers coming from Northern Ireland.

On Monday evening, the department told the PA news agency 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 72% of all applications this year.

In a statement, a spokeswoman said: “It has long been the case that a significant number of people apply for international protection for the first time in the IPO.

“This has increased in 2024. To date in 2024, there have been 6,739 applications for international protection at the IPO. Of these 6,136 (91%) were made at the IPO for the first time and not at a port of entry.

“There are a number of circumstances in which someone might apply in the IPO without first applying at a port of entry.

“They may enter at an airport with valid documentation for example but choose not to apply at that time. Or they may apply having been in the State for a period previously, for example on foot of a different permission to remain.

“However, the department’s firm assessment, based on the experience of staff and others working in the field, and based on the material gathered at interviews, is that over 80% of cases of those applying for the first time in the IPO have entered over the land border. This is the department’s operational assessment of the situation.”

It comes amid a row between the UK and Ireland over migrants travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, and into the Irish state.

Recently, the High Court ruled that Ireland’s decision to designate the UK as a safe third country was against EU law, in the context of the planned transfer of asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Ms McEntee is to bring a proposal to Cabinet on Tuesday around “returning” asylum seekers who had arrived in Ireland from the UK.

Refugee groups have cast doubt on the figure for 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.”

Asked about the evidence for the claim on Monday, Mr Martin said it was “clear from the presentation of migrants” that there was a change in where they came from.

He added that the Department of Justice had a “perspective” that there had been an increase in the number of arrivals through Northern Ireland.

Speaking to reporters at the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, Mr Martin said: “On the 80% and the evidence: Over a while, I think the Department of Justice officials would say – and it’s not statistical, it’s not a database or evidence base – but it is very clear from the presentations of migrants that there’s a change in the nature of where migrants have come from, and that’s the sense and the perspective that Justice have on this.

“Increasingly over the last year or two, there’s been a shift. If you remember, all the earlier commentary was on people coming in on planes without documentation and so on.

“That has lessened somewhat and there’s been a switch in terms of the pattern of migration, that’s the sense from our Justice officials.”