The Department of Justice continues to assess asylum seekers in Northern Ireland

The Irish Ministry of Justice maintains that a majority of asylum seekers enter the country via Northern Ireland.

Last week, Justice Secretary Helen McEntee claimed that 80% of asylum seekers enter the country from Northern Ireland.

The figure has since been questioned by human rights and refugee groups, and Irish Deputy Prime Minister Michel Martin had said it was not based on evidence, statistics or data.

Government officials, including Taoiseach Simon Harris and Ms McEntee, said an increase in the number of people presenting at the International Protection Office (IPO) rather than at Dublin Airport or other ports indicates there is an increase in asylum seekers from Northern Ireland.

On Monday evening, the department told the PA news agency that 91% of IPO applications so far in 2024 were first submitted there and not at an airport or other port.

It said its operational assessment was that more than 80% of cases among those applying for the first time to the IPO have entered the land border. This would amount to approximately 72% of all applications this year.

In a statement, a spokeswoman said: “It has been the case for a long time that a significant number of people apply for international protection for the first time at the IPO.

“This will have increased in 2024. To date, 6,739 applications for international protection have been received by the IPO in 2024. Of these, 6,136 (91%) were made for the first time at the IPO and not at the port of entry.

“There are a number of circumstances in which someone can apply for an IPO without first filing at a port of entry.

“For example, they enter an airport with valid documents, but at that moment choose not to submit an application. Or they can submit an application after having been in the State for a period previously, for example on the basis of another residence permit.

“However, the Department’s consistent assessment, based on the experience of staff and others working in the field, and on the material collected during interviews, is that more than 80% of cases of those who have applied for an IPO, more than 80% of the cases have been received. the land border. This is the department’s operational assessment of the situation.”

It comes amid a row between Britain and Ireland over migrants traveling from Britain to Northern Ireland and into the Irish state.

Recently, the High Court ruled that Ireland’s decision to designate Britain as a safe third country was contrary to EU law, in the context of the planned transfer of asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Ms McEntee will put a proposal to Cabinet on Tuesday on “returning” asylum seekers who have arrived in Ireland from Britain.

Refugee groups have questioned the number of arrivals in Northern Ireland, while one think tank said a registration rate of around 80% in the first-time IPO would not be “unusual” compared to other years.

Nick Henderson, chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council, said: “We do not know how the Department of Justice arrived at the 80% figure and, to our knowledge, has not published its methodology.

“The fact that a person has not applied for protection at an airport or port does not automatically mean that person has crossed the border from Northern Ireland.”

Asked about the evidence for the claim, Mr Martin said on Monday it was “clear from the presentation of migrants” that there had been a change in where they came from.

He added that the Ministry of Justice had a “prospect” that there had been an increase in arrivals through Northern Ireland.

Speaking to reporters at the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, Mr Martin said: “On the 80% and the evidence: in a little while, I think Ministry of Justice officials would say – and it’s not a statistic, it’s not a database or evidence base. – but it is very clear from the presentations of migrants that there is a change in the nature of where migrants come from, and that is the feeling and perspective that Justice has on this.

“There has been an increasing shift in the past two years. Remember, all the previous commentary was about people coming in on planes without papers and so on.

“That has decreased somewhat and there has been a change in the migration pattern, according to the impression of our justice officials.”