Author
In the experience of the Irish Refugee Council, a person who arrives in Ireland seeking entry may be refused leave to land and due to the lack of independent oversight and transparency at airports or ports of entry, it is unclear whether or not a person refused leave to land had protection grounds or had intended to apply for asylum. The Border Management Unit, in response, states:
‘At a port of entry, if a person indicates or is identified as being in need of international protection they are admitted to the international protection process. However, they will still be recorded as a refusal of leave to land.’[1]
There is currently no access for independent authorities or NGOs at air or land borders in order to monitor the situation, nor do there appear to be any plans to allow such access in the future.
Anecdotal evidence received by the Irish Refugee Council Independent Law Centre in 2019 suggested that some people may be refused leave to land and to enter Ireland even when they have grounds for protection. The Irish Times reported in December 2019 that “Airlines have been told to take such individuals back on a return flight before any opportunity to claim international protection arises”. The Irish Refugee Council wrote to the Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan TD, in January 2020 requesting clarification about these instructions, criteria used and how they adhere to Ireland’s legal obligations. A written response from the Department of Justice stated that the purpose of checks on arrival was to determine if a person is allowed leave to land rather than any assessment of asylum.
In October 2022, it was reported that a unit was to be established at Dublin Airport in order to facilitate stricter immigration checks in respect of arriving passengers. The establishment of the unit was reported to be part of a range of measures introduced by Government with a view to reducing the number of individuals claiming international protection in Ireland.[2]
Further reports in September and October 2022 indicated that additional immigration control measures had increased at Dublin Airport, targeting in particular individuals seeking to disembark from arriving aircraft with false documentation.[3] One such report indicated that ‘before the flight landed, the crew asked passengers to get out their passports for immigration checks…Once it touched down, border control officers came on the plane.’[4] When passengers queried the practice, they were advised that Immigration Officers were ‘looking for people without visas.’[5]
Subsequently, in February 2023, it was reported that the Government had sanctioned the ‘resumption’ of passport checks at the steps of aircraft in an attempt to address ‘the significant numbers of asylum seekers who had lost or destroyed their travel documents while flying into the State.’ According to the report, the Garda National Immigration Bureau are carrying out so-called ‘doorstep operations’ on a twice-weekly basis in order to check travel documents of passengers disembarking flights at Dublin Airport.[6]
Throughout 2024, it was evident that these practices had expanded considerably, with an increase in reports of arrests and subsequent convictions for failure to produce a valid travel document upon request.[7] In response to a Parliamentary Question in November 2024, the Department of Justice stated that as of the 30th of September 2024, there had been 132 charges made in respect of s.11 of the Immigration Act 2001 and 141 charges in respect of s.12 of the Immigration Act 2004.[8] There were also increased immigration checks at the border with Northern Ireland. In May 2024, it was announced that during a garda operation spanning a four-day period, 50 persons attempting to enter Ireland from the UK without the requisite visa or travel documentation.[9]
In the first nine months of 2022 out of a total of 5,662 persons refused leave to land, 4,969 persons indicated an intention to claim asylum to the Border Management Unit in Dublin airport.[10] The top 5 nationalities refused leave to land in 2022 were Georgian, Somali, Zimbabwean. Syrian and Kuwaiti.[11] Throughout 2023, 7,405 individuals were refused leave to land in the State. The top 3 nationalities refused leave to land were Georgian, Somali and South African.[12] As of 30 September 2024, 3,843 individuals had been refused leave to land at Dublin Airport, while 614 individuals had been refused leave to land at other ports of entry.[13] The nationalities of those refused leave to land for 2024 were not available at the time of updating.
The Irish Refugee Council has previously raised concerns in relation to the increasing number of individuals being refused leave to land from active zones of conflict that are demonstrably unsafe and has urged the government to show proactivity in ensuring effective access to the asylum procedure.[14]
Section 78 IPA amends Section 5 of the Immigration Act 2004 in a way which allows for people to be detained for short periods of time in facilities at ports of entry and/or airports instead of being placed in custody in police stations (see Detention of Asylum Applicants).
In December 2021, according to a statement made by the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, the dedicated immigration facility at Dublin Airport was opened for use in circumstances where an individual is refused leave to land at the air border. The facility houses the newly opened Dublin Airport Garda Station and the Garda National Immigration Bureau. The Garda Station contains four single person cells and two additional detention rooms. The facility was reported to be fully operational as of March 2022.[15] However, it is not known whether immigration detainees are advised and facilitated in seeking legal advice from detention.
Border monitoring
There is currently no access for independent authorities or NGOs at air or land borders in order to monitor the situation, nor do there appear to be any plans to allow such access in the future.
Legal access to the territory
Under Irish law, there is no general procedure under which an applicant can apply for a humanitarian visa with the intention to apply for international protection on arrival in the State. However, in September 2015, the Irish Government established the Irish Refugee Protection Programme (IRPP). Under the second phase of IRPP (IRPP II), established in 2019, it was planned that 2,900 Syrian refugees located in Jordan and Lebanon would be resettled in the State through a combination of resettlement and community sponsorship initiatives.[16] However, the State experienced significant challenges in meeting this target, due in part to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the issuing of humanitarian visas to Afghan nationals following the crisis of September 2021.[17] As a result, a total of just 448 resettled refugees arrived in the State between 2020 and 2022.[18] This is in addition to a further 564 humanitarian visas issued to Afghan nationals, bringing the total number of resettlements made under IRPP to 1012 in the years 2020 to 2022.[19] Statistics regarding resettlement for 2023 and 2024 were not available at the time of updating. Applicants arriving under resettlement receive programme refugee status.
Ireland’s pledge for resettlement and humanitarian admissions, along with forecasted resettlement numbers for 2024-2025 was submitted to the European Commission on the 7th of October 2023. Ireland has pledged to support the arrival of 1,200 refugees under the UNHCR resettlement process from Lebanon and Jordan, with a further 100 humanitarian admissions from Afghanistan.[20]
See also sections on: Family reunification; Afghan Admissions Programme; Irish Humanitarian Admissions Programme and Community Sponsorship.
[1] Border Management Unit, Right to Reply, May 2025.
[2] Irish Examiner, ‘Stricter asylum checks, more deportations, and more basic shelter in bid to control migration’, 24 October 2022, available: here.
[3] Dublin Inquirer, ‘The Government says it’s bringing back stricter asylum checks, but what does that mean?’, 2 November 2022, available: here.
[4] ibid.
[5] ibid.
[6] Irish Times, ‘Gardai resume checks at aircraft steps to tackle arrivals with no travel documents’, 6 February 2023, available: here.
[7] Information provided by Irish Refugee Council Information and Advocacy Service, December 2024.
[8] Minister for Justice, Response to Parliamentary Question No 759, 5 November 2024, available: here.
[9] The Journal, ‘Taoiseach ‘encouraged’ after gardaí prevent 50 people entering Ireland from the UK with incorrect documents’, 26 May 2024, available: here.
[10] Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, Response to Parliamnetary Question No 272. 27 October 2022, available: here.
[11] Dublin Inquirer, ‘The Government Says It’s Bringing in Stricter Asylum Checks, but What Does This Mean?’, 2 November 2022, available: here.
[12] Eurostat, ‘Non-EU citizens refused entry into the EU’, 30 April 2024, available: here.
[13] Minister for Justice, Response to Parliamentary Question No 261, 24 October 2024, available: here.
[14] Irish Times, Rise in people from war torn countries refused entry to the State, 2 August 2021, available: here.
[15] Department of Justice, Minister McEntee attends Official Opening of Dublin Airport Garda Station, 6 May 2022, available: here.
[16] Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Irish Refugee Protection Programme, 29 January 2021, updated 10 February 2023, available: here.
[17] ibid.
[18] Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Response to Parliamentary Question No. 1324, 18 April 2023, available: here.
[19] ibid.
[20] European Commission, ‘Pledges submitted by the Member States for 2024-2025’, December 2023, available: here.