The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a collapse in the numbers seeking asylum here in 2020.
New figures released by State agency, the International Protection Office (IPO) show that the numbers to seek asylum here in 2020 totalled 1,566, a 67.3% reduction on the 4,781 to claim asylum here in 2019.
The fall off in applications follows a number of years growth in those seeking asylum here - the 2019 total followed 3,673 applications in 2018 and 2,927 in 2017 and the growth during those years put pressure on the State’s direct provision system.
Covid impact
The detailed figures show that the Covid-19 enforced lockdowns and impact on international traffic resulted in numbers seeking asylum here reducing to a trickle during the second quarter of last year.
The IPO figures show that for the month of April, only 30 sought asylum and this compared to 344 for the same month in 2019.
This was followed by 16 for May 2020 and 41 applications for last June.
The collapse in numbers seeking asylum here coincided with a 99% drop in passenger traffic through the main gateway to Ireland at Dublin airport during April as airlines ceased the bulk of their scheduled flights due to Covid 19 restrictions.
Nationality of applicants
The IPO figures show that the Covid-19 pandemic impacted on the nationality of those seeking asylum.
In 2019, the top two countries to feature on the list were European - 976 applications were made by Albanians and 635 were made by Georgians. However, in 2020, neither country features in the top five countries.
Last year, the top five countries, with the exception of Pakistan, were all African.
The country with the greatest proportion of asylum seekers last year was Nigerian accounting for 13% of all applicants at 208. A further 167 applications came from war-torn Somalia or 11% of the total.
The detailed figures show that 87 applicants came from Pakistan nationals; 84 from South African nationals and 82 from Zimbabwe. The remaining 60% came from other countries.
Deportations
In line with the sharp drop in numbers seeking asylum here, the number of people denied entry into the State and deported from Ireland also plummeted last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In figures recently provided by the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, the numbers denied entry into the State by immigration authorities at airports, seaports and across the border totalled 1,767 during the Covid-19 pandemic last year.
The 1,767 total for the nine months compared to 7,455 ‘denied entry’ for the 12 months of 2019.
According to a writtend Dáil reply by Ms McEntee, only 42 deportations were enforced last year with 34 taking place in the first three months. She said this compares to 154 deportation orders enforced for 2019.
The minister said: “No further deportation orders are being enforced during the Covid-19 pandemic except in circumstances where an individual may be a threat to national security and whose presence in Ireland would be contrary to the public interest.”
