Huge fall in refugee arrival sat Ross la re

January 2001

There has been a huge fall in the numbers of asylum seekers landing at Rossare Harbour since the introduction of tough new screening processes.

The numbers have fallen from 158 in the first three weeks of November to just eight since the new procedure came into force on November 20.

Since then, members of the Garda National Immigration Bureau have been travelling to France on the ferry out of Rosslare, screening would-be refugees at Cherbourg and Roscoff.

Local garda resources were stretched almost to breaking point earlier in the year by the numbers of asylum seekers landing at the port, almost all of them on the Irish Ferries ship, MV Normandy.

‘We had 158 in November up to the 19th,’ said Wexford-based community welfare officer, Barbara Ryan.

‘Since November 20, we have had eight people in total, from Lithuania, Africa, and Moldova,’ she continued, adding that 303 asylum seekers are currently living in the county while their applications are being dealt with.

The Irish Refugee Council and the Irish Commission for Justice and Peace (ICJP) – which have both criticised the new procedures – said the decrease was in the main due to the screening of those waiting for ferries from Cherbourg, and not allowing them to disembark to make asylum claims in Rosslare if they get through the first checks, although the French authorities too have tightened up their procedures.

The ICJP said that since November 20, no asylum seekers were allowed ashore from ten out of twelve sailings from Cherbourg to Rosslare.

On the November 22 sailing, 22 passengers were refused permission to land, while 11 were prevented from disembarking on November 29.

In October, 185 asylum seekers came through Rosslare.

Most of the refugees arriving in Rosslare travelled on the Normandy, which resumes its continental service on March 2, having made its last crossing of 2000 on December 28. Others travel on the freighter Pathfinder, which is currently in dry dock.

‘ The bulk of the drop in December could reasonably be attributed to the new policies or practices in Rosslare,’ said Jerome Connolly of the ICJP.

Nationally, in December there were 762 applications for asylum, compared to almost 1,100 a month earlier.

While the latest monthly arrival figures are down, nearly 11,000 people applied for asylum in the year 2000, compared to 7,724 in 1999 and 4,626 in 1998. In 1992, there were only 39 applications.

The Irish Bishops Committee on Refugees has called on the government to explain the dramatic fall in applications in the latter quarter of the year.

The Department of Justice says all procedures in relation to asylum seekers and refugees are carried out in accordance with the laws of the land.