The Department of Justice figures show that between January and November 2022, a total of 5,074 people applying for asylum in Ireland presented either “false or no documentation” on their arrival.
It means almost 40% of the people applying for international protection here last year did not have valid travel documents.
Almost 70% (just over 3,500) were men and 30% (around 1,500) were women.
The figures only include people over the age of 16 because the department does not record minors.
Former Justice Minister Michael McDowell told The Pat Kenny Show that anyone arriving in Ireland without the correct travel documents should be deported.
“If you come to Dublin Airport and you say you have no travel documents – what is your motive in doing that?” he asked.
“It is to conceal your identity and it is to prevent the Irish State from coming to a quick decision as to whether you’re what you claim to be and whether or not you’re somebody who is entitled to international protection.”
Senator McDowell said Ireland’s immigration system is “just ineffectual” – noting that people arriving at other countries without passports encounter a very different approach.
“I would be surprised if all of those travel documents are left on-board Ryanair flights or flushed down toilets on aircraft,” he said. “I don’t believe that happens. I think they are retained.
“But I mean, now, our system is just ineffectual. You are dealing with a person across a desk and they’re not going to search you. You know, try doing that in the United States and you’ll find a very different approach.”
“I think somebody who turns up and claims that between Paris and Dublin or Amsterdam and Dublin, they have lost their travel documents, they should be given very short shrift.”
Source-newstalk
