SIGNS OF HOPE FOR LONG TERM ASYLUM SEEKERS
The Department of  Jusice  will conduct a major review during August to go through cases over 5 years old with an emphasis on people in  Direct Provision Accommodation Centres.  This is with a view to granting leave to remain.  The Direct Provision System has come under a considerable amount of criticism and public attention in recent times with a focus on the negative effects it has on the wellbeing of long term residents and also the high cost of the system.  This initiative is then one that will not only be welcomed by asylum seekers but also by Church and NGO groups that have for many years advocated for both a reform of the asylum system and for speedier decisions on asylum applications.

Just how many cases are more than five years old is uncertain as exact figures are not available.  At the end of May this year a total to 6,337 asylum seekers lived in Accommodation  Centres around Ireland.  Over four thousand are more than one year in the system and roughly two thousand four hundred of these are more than three years waiting for a final decision on their cases.

The Department of Justice have emphasises that the proposed review of cases is not an amnesty.  Issues which will be taken into account are whether or not the person has a clean record.  The review will not be extended to those with deportation orders which have not yet been enforced.

Another issue that has probably prompted this action is the forthcoming and long awaited new Immigration and Residence Bill which will in effect establish a new system for processing asylum applications in the State.  It is expected that the new bill will come before the Dail by the end of the year. Dealing with cases over five years outstanding is a very welcome development and must be a source of great hope to those affected.   Hopefully once this review is completed the Minister for Justice will lower the bar and review “younger” cases.  It makes sense the clear up the backlog of outstanding cases before the new system that the Immigration and Residence Bill will establish begins to operate. Operating the old and the new systems simultaneously would be an administrative nightmare that could result in the continuation of the backlog of cases that is the cause of the recent criticism of the present system.