The Minister for Justice has asked the International Organisation for Migration to undertake a new voluntary repatriation scheme for asylum seekers and migrants in an irregular situation here.
This is a continuation of a programme that began in 2001, and has resulted in the voluntary return of 1,173 people since it began.
Voluntary return is an alternative to deportation. The new programme aims to oversee the voluntary return of up to 300 people over the next 12 months, and the Department of Justice will contribute €800,000 towards this.
The IOM is an international, independent, inter-governmental organisation that assists governments and non-governmental organisations with migration issues: 116 states are affiliated to it and it has 280 offices, including one in Dublin.
It deals with a number of migration-related issues, including "brain-drain" from developing countries, assistance to migrants, action against people-smuggling and repatriation of asylum-seekers and migrants in irregular situations.
Its repatriation programmes are open to asylum seekers and irregular migrants from non-EEA countries who wish to return home voluntarily but do not have the means, including the necessary documentation, to do so.
According to the organisation's website, the application procedure involves signing a form and a declaration of voluntary return. "Returnees under the IOM programme travel as regular passengers. The reasons for their stay in Ireland and for their return remain confidential," it says, adding that IOM Dublin is able to provide assistance in obtaining valid travel documents from embassies and consular missions in Ireland or other European countries.
The number of people assisted to return by the IOM in the past five years peaked in 2003, when 440 participated in the programme. In 2004 396 were assisted, and 220 in 2005.
The total figures include 174 parents of Irish-born children and 13 unaccompanied minors. A special programme for former USSR countries in the years 2002-2003 returned 50 people, and a similar scheme for sub-Saharan African countries in 2004-2005 returned 37 people.