A chara, - At face value, the response of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (June 14th) appears to offer reassurance that the speeding up of the processing of asylum applications has not been at the expense of quality, as suggested by your columnist Breda O'Brien.
However, one crucial question remains: why is it that over half of those recognised as refugees in Ireland are identified, not initially by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner, but at a later stage when the Refugee Appeals Tribunal overturns that initial rejection?
Last year alone, over 1,000 refugees had the confirmation of their refugee status delayed until the appeal stage. What this means is that, after rejection at "first instance", each of those people had to remain on in the limbo existence that is the asylum-seeking stage until their appeal was heard.
During this period they will typically have been banned from taking up paid employment and, over and above having their food and lodgings paid for, are guaranteed only a cash income of €19.10 per week. In a case known to us in the Irish Refugee Council, one refugee who had applied for asylum in late 1999 had his refugee status recognised only in April 2003.
Wherever the fault lies, the result is unacceptable in that a large number of refugees are being forced to endure further distress as they wait for confirmation of their status. Great improvements have been made to some elements of the system that processes asylum claims, but it is imperative that the majority of refugees are identified at the first stage possible. This would make the system fairer and would also significantly reduce the cash cost to the State. - Is mise,
PETER O'MAHONY, Chief Executive, Irish Refugee Council, Dublin 1.