350 people claimed asylum in Ireland last week, official figures show – the highest number of weekly arrivals since September 2024. Almost two-thirds were single males, and more than a third came from Somalia.
The figures, published in the IPAS Weekly Arrivals and Accommodation Statistics report from the Department of Justice, show this is the third successive week where arrivals outstripped the numbers on the same period last year.
The report records that 223 single males claimed asylum, along with 32 single females, 44 people who were in couples, three lone parent guardians and 48 children in the week ending 14 June.
119 persons arrived from Somalia, while another 103 arrived from Pakistan and Nigeria and 44 from Afghanistan. Despite Georgia being designated a safe country, 21 persons from that county claimed asylum here last week.
The Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, has said that almost 88% of persons claiming asylum in this country are arriving by crossing the border from Northern Ireland.
The number of persons reported as being accommodated by IPAS has hovered around the 33,000 mark since December 2024, despite some 18,000 migrants seeking asylum arriving since then.
Gript has discovered that the Department of Justice has involved itself in the acquisition of what was private residential housing which it has allocated to applicants for International Protection.
“I discovered this when researching the allocation of a house in the Forgehill estate in Stamullen. My subsequent inquiries to the Department elicited the information that “35 residential properties are owned by the State for the in-community accommodation of people seeking international protection where group accommodation is not suitable. These properties provide accommodation to very vulnerable residents including some with disabilities and specific needs”,” Matt Treacy wrote.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has admitted that up to 80% of IPAS applicants in Ireland are actually economic migrants who are not genuine asylum seekers.
