The number of people applying for asylum in Ireland were down by 40 per cent last year over the previous 12 months, it was revealed today.
Figures from the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner revealed 4,766 applications for asylum were received last year, a drop of 40 per cent from the 7,900 applications in 2003.
ORAC granted 237 people refugee status in the first three months of the year, while 1,259 new asylum applications have been lodged in the same period. Of the 237 people granted refugee status up until March 31st, 2005, 94 were accepted on the first attempt while the other 143 were granted after an appeal.
Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has described the drop in numbers as a "vindication" of his immigration policies.
The Irish Refugee Council said the threat of deportation and other deterrents led to the drop. "We have a package of measures that have been designed to prevent people coming here in large numbers. For instance refusal on arrival and not allowing people on a plane," Mr O'Mahony, IRC chief executive, said.
"Publicity is part of it and a very deliberate measure. To give publicity to deportations sends out a message that this is a country that people are liable to be returned from."
"Deterrents are considered by all western countries and that does not make it in any way more humane. We are not unique in that regard," Mr O'Mahony said.
"We are deporting far larger numbers and they are higher profile and we are making life very difficult for those coming to live here."
Mr O'Mahony said asylum seekers had no right to child benefit, had no right to work and were forced to live in direct provision accommodation such as the old Mosney holiday camp in north Dublin, mobile homes in Athlone and former convent schools around the country.
He also noted the introduction of carriers liability legislation which forced airlines to take responsibility for repatriating people refused entry to Ireland.
The figures noted the top five countries of origin for asylum seekers in 2004 were Nigeria (1,776), followed by Romania (286), Somalia (198), China (152) and Sudan (145).
This compares to 2003 which saw 7,900 applications, 3,110 from Nigerians, 777 from Romanians, 256 from the Congo, 243 from Moldova and 186 from the Czech Republic.
Mr O'Mahony noted Nigerians were attracted to Ireland as a strong community had already developed here. And he said Ireland, along with Austria and Spain, was the most popular destination for Nigerian asylum seekers.
For the first three months of 2005, 1,259 refugee applications have been made. The statistics show that asylum seekers are most likely to come from Nigeria (557), Somalia (88), Romania (77), Afghanistan (57), and the Sudan (32).
A total of 599 deportations were carried out in 2004 and since 1999 there have been 2,268 deportations from Ireland. A further 611 people left the State on their own accord taking the number of people to have left to 2,520 over the last five and a half years.
Mr McDowell said that when he took office, there were over 11,000 people applying for asylum here each year. He said 90 per cent of all asylum applications were "unjustified".
He told RTÉ News At Onehe wanted to send the message out to bogus asylum seekers that there was "no point" in coming to Ireland and "wasting their time and money". He said the law would be enforced fully and the recent u-turn on the case of a deported Nigerian student was a "once-off".
The Labour Party said the figures reflected a general decline in asylum applications throughout Europe.
Justice spokesman Joe Costello said: "Significant inward migration has now been a phenomenon of Irish life for almost a decade but the government has still to produce any coherent policy and its response is, more often than not, crisis driven, as we saw in the recent case of the young Nigerian student, Olunkunle Elhunia."