Government delays in processing refugee family reunification applications are having a “devastating” impact on families torn apart by war and violence, a solicitor has warned.
In the case of Afghan applicants, many are awaiting a decision in Pakistan where they face deportation or forced return, says Andrea Martin, a retired solicitor who now works with Afghan refugees in Ireland.
“I don’t think the Department of Justice or the Irish Government has any idea of how devastating such a long waiting period is for families that have already been devastated by trauma and involuntary separation,” said Ms Martin.
“The anxiety experienced by family members in Ireland when a parent, child or spouse is in danger overseas is appalling to witness. Some live daily with the fear that their family member is going to be arrested or killed, or drafted into a domestic or foreign army.” Ms Martin says the applications she has worked on usually take three years for full processing.
The Department of Justice said the median processing time for refugee family reunification applications in 2024 was 16 months. The median number describes the midpoint in the range. The current average processing time is 18 months, according to a recent statement from the Minister for Justice.
Asked about delays in the system, a department spokesman said processing times varied depending on the nature of the application, documentation supplied and the “often complex assessment” of applications. “It should be noted that no two applications are the same and that numerous factors can impact processing times.”
Zahra*, an Afghan refugee living in Canada but whose family is in Ireland and waiting to be reunited with a parent in hiding in Pakistan, said the process had caused “deep depression and anxiety in my parents”. The woman and her parents requested not to be named for fear of reprisals by the Taliban.
“Every day we live with instability and fear,” she told The Irish Times over WhatsApp. “My mother and father are struggling with sadness and loneliness, my siblings and I feel helpless we cannot do anything to bring them back together.”
If forcibly returned to Afghanistan, her parent could face “imprisonment, torture and persecution at the hands of the Taliban,” she said. “Reuniting Afghan families with their loved ones in safe third countries is not only a humanitarian need but an urgent one. Only by being together can we begin to rebuild our lives with dignity and hope.”
Nearly 844,500 Afghan refugees have been forcibly returned from Pakistan to Afghanistan since 2023 as part of Pakistan’s repatriation plan, according to a recent Amnesty International report. Earlier this year, Pakistan’s government said Afghans holding proof of registration must leave by June 2025. It is also understood Afghans with approved visas to travel to a third country, such as Ireland, have 30 days to leave Pakistan before they are deported. Back in Afghanistan, they risk persecution by the Taliban, and women and girls are denied a broad range of rights and freedoms.
Afghan refugees were among the top five nationalities to be granted family reunification to Ireland last year, along with people from Somalia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Sudan.
There is no fast-track system in place for emergency situations and the family reunification unit considers applications “on a case-by-case basis”, said the department. The unit has issued 55 per cent more decisions on applications so far this year compared with the same period last year, it said. To date this year 542 applications have been made. A total of 1,467 applications were made in 2024.
There are 13.5 staff working in the family reunification unit, compared with 10 staff members last year. The department said it could not provide the “precise number” of staff who worked in the unit in 2022 and 2023.
Irish Refugee Council (IRC) managing solicitor Katie Mannion said family reunification application delays were putting people’s lives “completely on hold” and affected their “ability to integrate”.
Often, refugee parents must flee and leave their children behind with extended family members in precarious living situations, said Ms Mannion. Most of these parents misguidedly believed they could be quickly reunited with their children.
Once they have been granted refugee status, which can take years, and apply for family reunification within 12 months, they must secure documentation to prove their relationship with a family member, a time-consuming and sometimes dangerous process, said Ms Mannion.
Family members left behind must often take “extremely dangerous journeys to access DNA testing”, she said, adding that many Eritreans found it “almost impossible” to get birth certificates. In a recent IRC-supported case, two children disappeared while their parents awaited a decision. In another case, an Afghan woman awaiting a decision was forced to marry a Taliban member, Ms Mannion said.
Immigration lawyer Stephen Kirwan, who has worked on family reunification applications with Somali, Afghan, Nigerian and Georgian refugees, said delays had “reached crisis point”. “These are very vulnerable people, legally declared as refugees, and it’s their family members,” he said. “The indeterminacy of it causes such stress. The problem is you’re hurting real, vulnerable people. There’s no push or pull factor here, it’s humanity.”
*Pseudonym used to protect identity
