A mere 15% of migrants who received a Deportation Order in the last five years actually deported Ireland, it has been revealed.
The information was obtained from the Minister for Justice, Simon Harris, following a Parliamentary Question (PQ) by TD Peadar Tóibín.
The TD asked Minister Harris the number of deportation orders made to date for each of the five years (2018-2023), along with the number of people who have actually left Ireland as a result of a deportation order being issued in their name in the past five years.
He also asked for the number of people who have arrived in Ireland with false documents; the number who entered without any documents; the average success or failure rate of such individuals; and the average application processing time for such applicants.
In response, the Minister for Justice acknowledged that those who do not have a legal right to be in this country “must remove themselves” from the State.
“A person subject to a Deportation Order has no legal basis to remain in the State. Their case to remain in the State has been considered in detail and all available appeals processes have been exhausted,” Minister Harris said in response, before revealing the number of Deportation Orders issued and effected.
The statistics released to Mr Tóibín showed that just 781 of a total of 5,091 Deportation Orders were confirmed to have been effected, equating to 15 per cent. This year so far, just five per cent of those who have been issued with Deportation Orders have been confirmed to actually have been deported.
Data showed that of the 448 Deportation Orders (DO) signed so far this year, just 22 have been effected. Last year, while 528 DO were issued, only 119 were effected.
2021 saw 38 deportations, while the highest number of deportations took place in 2019, with 298 of 2,295 deportations followed through. 2018 also saw a minority of DOs put into effect – 163 of 1,191 deportations were confirmed to have taken place in the State.
Mr Tóibín described as a “disaster” the way in which the refugee crisis has been handled by the Government; something which the Meath West TD said has led to “real division” across Irish society.
“The manner in how the government has handled the refugee process has been a disaster,” he said. “This government mismanagement is creating real division in Irish society. Deportations are a perfect example of this dysfunction”.
‘RIDICULOUS’
He went on: “According to a parliamentary answer I received from the Minister for Justice, the deportation system in Ireland is in practical terms a voluntary one.
“The government can only be certain that 15% of people who received a deportation order have actually [been] deported. Since 2018, 5091 people have received a deportation order, and yet the government can only be certain that 783 people actually left the country. It is hard to overstate how ridiculous this is”.
The Aontú leader took direct aim at Minister Harris over his handling of the situation, stating:
“The Minister has stated ‘It is the case that many individuals who are subject to Deportation Orders leave the State without notifying the relevant authorities and this particular category of individual is difficult to quantify’.
“Can I respectfully suggest to the Minister that he better start quantifying the numbers who are leaving and the numbers who are staying if anyone is to take the system seriously?”
He described Ireland’s deportation system as “voluntary” owing to the system in place at airports and ferry ports.
“There must be a process at airports or at ferry ports to identify and record when a person with a deportation order has left the country. If the government is not effecting deportations, then it seems that we have a voluntary deportation system.
“There seems to be a contradiction in what the Government is saying. On one level we are told these are deportation orders. The meaning of these words are that the individual is ordered to deport.
“What is the point of having an expensive and lengthy asylum application process that is supposed to differentiate between people who need help and those who don’t, and then at the end of the process both groups have the same outcomes? Both groups can stay,” he said.
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