Anyone following the discussion about the number of deportations from the Irish state will perhaps have formed a rather misleading impression of what is actually taking place.
It is being claimed that large numbers of deportation orders are issued – and also claimed that many people, happily, self-deport if they are not forcibly deported.
The data would suggest otherwise.
The statistics, which have been provided through a host of Parliamentary Questions, Freedom of Information requests, and statements by Ministers and others have been inconsistent. The one consistent trend, as Gript has reported several times on the basis of our own analysis of the aforementioned statistics, is that around 15% of deportation orders actually end in deportation.
According to figures from the Department of Justice the number of removals from the state in December was just 13 – hardly a sign that there has been huge new energy invested in tackling this issue as has been promised.
In May 2023, a PQ response to Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín from Minister Simon Harris stated that just 781 of 5,091 deportation orders were known to have resulted in the person who was issued with the order leaving the state.
That comes to 15.34% of the total of more than 5,000 deportation orders who were known to have left the country.
That is the largest sample we have from official sources, but other statistics have shown that the percentage leaving after a deportation order was as low as 11.5%.
When confronted with this reality, the state, NGOs and opposition parties which support the current system, have constantly referred to the numbers of persons who, they say, voluntarily leave – self-deporting from the State.
The impression is always given that this accounts for a large number of persons who when faced with deportation just decide to leave off their own bat.
We are expected to believe that some bizarre Code of Honour exists – one that is not extended to anyone else who has been proven to have broken the law, which persons issued with a deportation order effectively have. They have no legal entitlement to remain in the state after that order is issued.
And yet, the state and others have never been able to put a consistent figure on this.
On January 17, for example, Minister Helen McEntee informed Rural Independent TD for Laois/Offaly Carol Nolan that while no one knows, they were certain that the numbers involved were “significant.”
Well, we might cheekily suggest that they might be significantly low – something that was perhaps hinted at in the only actual official figure that the Minister provided.
This was in relation to Deputy Nolan’s query regarding the “number of persons, who having been issued with a notification of intention to deport, under Section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 subsequently indicated their consent to a deportation order.”
Not many, it would appear from the answer provided at that time by Helen McEntee: a very low number of 45 in total over an 11 year period from 2013.
None, in fact, consented to a deportation order in some years, and just 12 of the 5,091 deportation orders issued in the five years covered by the statistics supplied to Peadar Tóibín. That amounts to less than one quarter of 1%.
The only other official figure we can refer to – beyond anecdotal accounts that “many individuals who are subject to Deportation Orders leave the state without notifying the relevant authorities” – are the actual numbers of people who are officially known to have “self-deported.”
That comes to a grand total of 1,241 in 13 years up to November 2023. Or, if we return to the statistics for 2018 – 2022, just 443 or 8.7%.
All of those figures confirm that the overall level of deportation orders that actually end in deportations are very small, and certainly close to the 15% we mentioned at the top.
And, of course, any contradictions in the official data in the numbers of self-deportations emanate from the source itself – the Department of Justice.
Claims to the contrary – and talking points which insist that self-deportations are happening in the majority of cases – are not backed by the evidence they have issued to date.
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How many of the thousands of irish leaving these shores are being housed for free in their new host countries. How many are automatically entitled to every freebie one can imagine, How many are getting free education with no expectation of contributing to said society. It is very aggravating to see how the Irish have fallen in their own country, on their own swords. Without even putting up a fight
While I understand and sympathize with the outrage, the two situations are completely different: emigrating to find more economic opportunity, a ‘better life’, etc, compared to applying for asylum — anyone applying for asylum is legally entitled to have their application duly considered, and to basic services like housing, food, and medical care until their case is decided — if the Irish who emigrate applied for asylum, they would be legally entitled to the same benefits.
The problem is the legal obligation to consider applications for asylum — once your country assumes that obligation, it is effectively under the control of both national and international human rights law (IHL), as well as related legal precedent.
To get and keep full control of your country, you need to repudiate the legal obligation to consider applications for asylum.
And if they do not self deport do they still collect benefits even if they have no legal right to them?
yes
A farce presided over by an inept excuse for a government and the main opposition parties backing them.
Read the other day that Pakistan had successfully deported 500,000 undocumented – illegal – Afghans in a period of four months from September 15 2023 to January 13 2024, including 200K who did so voluntarily. So large scale deportations are possible. Obviously MSM outlets like the Guardian, and the NGOs like the UNHCR are decrying it, ‘raising fears over forced deportations’.
Where there’s political will, there’s a way
And many end up here in Ireland as asylum seekers.
Misleading stats is another example of misinformation & gaslighting from our government & mainstream media. “Self” deporting is the most ridiculous concept I’ve ever heard , what’s next “self” arrests or “self” enforced incarceration. The laws of this land are the laws , it’s not up to the government to soften them up & water them down through “policy”. Asylum rejections should mean enforced deportation in all cases. Resource our authorities to do just that , no excuses , the savings from reduced social welfare for all Ukrainian refugees should be more than enough to cover enforcement costs & also increased policing of our borders.
I’m sick to my back teeth of hearing sweeping statements like immigrants are needed to fill jobs in certain sectors of the economy. In that case firstly prove it through independent sector analysis , then put a drive in place to fill the jobs from out existing cohort of jobseekers in the country . If that fails & only then put in place a legal temporary immegration program where we can decide eligibility from countries that have similar values to us & can screen people in advance of granting them work status & have them matched up with jobs in advance.
Lots of room in the Central Asian Stans
The gravy train for our illegal replacements just keeps on rolling. They are doing everything in their power to ensure they don’t get deported. Plantation 2.0
“Self” deportation needs nudges.
The following actions should automatically occur on issue of a deportation order:
1 Cancellation of PSC card. This will also mean loss of access to social welfare benefits.
2 Cancellation of Drivers License and other permits and licenses issued by the State,.
3 Closure of bank accounts and foreclosure of loans
4 Access to State services, except police and courts, only on a cash-in-advance basis.
In this context, a removal order is generally tied to a decision about asylum — within the current system, a sane policy would be: 1) all applicants for asylum must either live in secured housing, or be required to remain in contact with authorities via regular in-person appointments (e.g. weekly) until their case is decided; 2) when the decision is communicated to them, the applicant must be physically present, and if asylum is denied they are immediately taken into custody and held in a secure facility awaiting removal; 3) no appeals when asylum is denied.
It would be interesting to know how many deportations were taken up via IOM. IOM will pay for the ticket home as well as give a small stipend to assist the person to get on his/her feet once back. Furthermore, asylum seekers will persue and appeal ” the full range of statuses allowing them to stay in Ireland”.
The article off their website says that since 2001( and I assume the article was written in 2015) 3.800 people had been deported via the IOM and that is just in Ireland. Hence me asking how many have been deported via IOM since then.
Perhaps not all in the above figures but definitely more than we think.
Here is the link and it makes interesting reading. Once again, the UN funds all of this back and forth, using Treaties signed and tax dollars.
https://www.iom.int/sites/g/files/tmzbdl486/files/country/docs/StrengtheningInformationandOutreachforVoluntaryReturninIreland.pdf