Newly published statistics on illegal immigration in the EU for 2022 show that Ireland had the fourth highest number of refusals of entry of people travelling here from outside of the EU.
The total figure was 9,240 which is a substantial increase on the 3,725 who were refused entry in 2021.
The increase reflects several factors. One is the overall increase in the level of illegal migration which as we have shown previously jumped dramatically last year. On the positive side, it is evident that the EU border security agency Frontex is operating at a higher level, and that the FADA system which can immediately identify false documentation is proving to be effective.
The overall figures for the EU are an indication of the scale of the problem, and many people feel that not enough is being done to both tackle the problem at source, and then to act decisively to deport those who are found to have successfully entered a member state.
That is reflected in the fact that while more than 1,000,000 illegal immigrants were discovered in the EU in 2022, just 422,400 were served with deportation orders, and of that figure just 96,795 were actually returned to their country of origin.
Less than half of migrants found to be illegally in the EU are ordered to leave – and less than 10% actually leave.
That pattern is replicated in Ireland where although there were 605 people newly found to be living illegally in the jurisdiction that just 190 people actually left the country last year. Both the number of deportations ordered, and the number of people who actually left were the lowest of any EU state.
The number of people found to be here illegally was down from 810 in 2020, while the number of deportations, 85% of which were “voluntary”, was up from 150 in 2021, but down on 470 in 2019 when several leading ministers had made reference to the high level of bogus asylum seekers from Georgia and Albania in particular.
The profile of those refused entry to Ireland is proportionally very similar to the numbers of those who have applied for asylum. Of the 9,240 refusals, 1,685 were people who had travelled here from Georgia.
Zimbabwe and South Africa are two other countries of safe origin which feature prominently in the number of those refused entry, at 610 and 570 respectively.
Which of course begs the question as to why more of those who do manage to enter the state and apply for asylum are not detected at the borders, and why a larger proportion are not deported rather than enter into an often-endless series of appeals.
So while the state would appear to be getting more serious about tackling illegal immigration, most of that seems to take place at point of entry, and it is evident that the greatly increased level of refusals in the most part simply reflects the fact that there are vastly increased numbers of people attempting to enter the EU, and in this instance, the Irish state.
Given the increased numbers of people from countries of safe origin who are already in Ireland, many of whom having been permitted to enter despite having no valid documentation, it is apparent that the state is far from being on top of this problem.
It is also clear that there are significant and powerful interests in Ireland – particularly among the migrant and asylum NGOs and their associated legal representatives – who are determined to frustrate any effort to deal with illegal immigration and bogus asylum seekers.
That is currently evident in the cases being brought before the courts which are attempting to establish the right to housing on the part of illegal immigrants. To the best of my knowledge, no NGO has ever taken legal action to establish on behalf of any Irish homeless person.
Some NGO and other activist involvement is also pretty clear in the “tented city” that has sprung up close to the International Protection Office in the centre of Dublin. Videos of familiar left activists at the scene have prompted questions as to the provenance of the slogans on the banners which the men allegedly living in the tents have displayed.
The International Protection Office in Dublin is executing Minister Roderic O'Gorman racist policy daily by leaving black and brown refugees to sleep in the tents. @DSGJustice this is why you changed departments? pic.twitter.com/azowwQZ45U
— Abolish Direct Provision Campaign (@AbolishDirect) May 10, 2023
That organisational input can also be detected in some of the responses of the men to questions, which would appear to indicate a level of tutoring in their references to Ireland somehow being obliged to give them a free house because Irish people have in the past emigrated to other countries.
It is difficult to imagine that this is a topic of conversation in the bars of Tbilisi and Harare and Cape Town from where the chaps are fleeing in fear of something or other.
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