THE Department of Justice has reversed a decision made earlier his month to refuse refugee Satus to 155 Cubans.
It has retracted letters telling the Cubans they were not recognised as refugees under the Geneva Convention because they had not shown "a well founded fear of persecution".
In another set of letters, issued within the past week, the refugees have been informed that the earlier notifications were due to "a regrettable misunderstanding arising out of an administrative error".
The letters stressed that no decision had been taken on the applications for refugee status, which remain under consideration.
The Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Ms Joan Burton, said yesterday she "deeply regretted" the concern caused to the refugees by the letters and assured them that their rights were not affected.
The Cuban asylum seekers, including some children, were informed in letters by the Department two weeks ago that they did not qualify for recognition as refugees under the Geneva Convention.
The letters were sent to 155 Cubans, although over half of them had travelled illegally to the United States or Canada over the past 18 months.
They would not have notified the Department of Justice of their departure. The news that they had 21 days to appeal the decision caused panic among the 70 or so Cuban refugees living in Ireland.
It is understood that the initial letters were part of an effort by the Department to clear the backlog of more than 1,000 asylum applications which have been building up since the early 1990s.
A solicitor who deals with asylum seekers expressed concern that the Department's action in sending the initial letters could have appeared discriminatory as it might have constituted a "group decision" involving citizens of one country.
Amnesty International's Irish Section said refugees were "generally worried about whole uncertainty" that the incidents created.
"Here we have a group of Cubans who are being lumped together. One day they get one letter and the next day they get a different one. It doesn't inspire confidence in the system," said an Amnesty spokesman, Mr Jim Loughran.
He said the initial letter "could have triggered some people into desperate measures out of fears of being returned to Cuba.
"It's obviously of very deep concern because many of them felt that they had a good case and find themselves in a situation where they have had one notification that their applications had been turned down, and even though that has been reversed, they now fear the worst," he said.
The Organisation of Cubans Exiled in Ireland said it was surprised that the second letter said the Department's decision had been made as a result of an administrative error and not "as we suspect, as a result of a political decision".
Ms Burton emphasised that the applications for refugee status: "will now be considered in accordance with proper procedure".
A decision will be made or each application in the next fed weeks, she said.