Flanagan plays down suggestion asylum seekers to pick here over UK
JUSTICE Minister Charlie Flanagan has sought to play down suggestions Brexit could lead to a large influx of asylum seekers who would otherwise travel to the UK.
But Mr Flanagan also said the potential issue was receiving consideration within the Justice Department.
His comments at the Oireachtas Justice Committee came as new figures detail how applications for those seeking asylum in Ireland have grown steadily since the UK’s June 2016 Brexit vote.
Applications jumped 30pc to 2,926 between 2016 and 2017. This figure increased 25pc to 3,673 last year.
Almost half of all applications last year came from just five countries – Albania, Georgia, Syria, Zimbabwe and Nigeria. The increase is thought to be partly due to fears UK immigration laws will tighten after Brexit.
The influx is placing pressure on the direct provision system, with recent reports of overcrowding in accommodation centres.
The situation has been exacerbated by the housing crisis as hundreds of successful asylum applicants have been unable to leave direct provision centres due to a lack of alternative accommodation.
Questioned by Fianna Fáil justice spokesman Jim O’Callaghan as to whether officials believed asylum applications would increase after the UK’s March 29 exit date, Mr Flanagan said: “There is no evidence of that. However, it is something that we are giving consideration towards.”
The minister said the department’s “anxiety” would be “to mitigate any adverse consequence that might give rise to a large number of applications”.
Brian Merriman, a principal officer at the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, said the number of applications had been increasing steadily in recent years.
But he said he was “not planning for a major difference”.
Mr Merriman said he was not sure there would be a particular advantage to an asylum seeker choosing Ireland over the UK in the immediate future. He said UK authorities would have “a lot of order to put on their new systems”.
Mr Flanagan and officials were appearing at the committee to discuss the Government’s mammoth Brexit omnibus bill, which will kick in should the UK depart the EU without a deal.
He also discussed other fall back legislation and international conventions which will have to be used once EU instruments no longer apply to the UK.
In the area of child abduction disputes, Mr Flanagan said he was satisfied there were a number of existing international conventions which would form a basis for continued cooperation.
In another family law area, he said once EU regulations fall it would be possible to recognise UK divorces under existing legislation, the Domicile and Recognition of Foreign Divorces Act 1986.
However, one area where he does foresee difficulty is in relation to the ability of Irishbased people to sue a British citizen or company in the Irish courts, something currently facilitated by EU regulations.
Asked if there were any proposals for reciprocal arrangements to permit this arrangement to continue, Mr Flanagan said: “That is potentially challenging. It would depend on the circumstances of each case. But the likelihood will be that the action may have to be taken in the UK.”