Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I want to discuss the need for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to explain why Afghan nationals seeking asylum in Ireland are being refused. The Minister of State may be aware that approximately 120 Afghans arrived outside Leinster House two days ago to protest at the manner in which they have been treated in terms of the asylum process. It brought to light that there seems to be almost 100% rejection of applications for asylum by Afghan nationals. It is perplexing how this situation should arise because anyone who knows anything about what is going on in the world would know without access to specialist information that Afghanistan is a war zone, that it has been devastated by the Taliban, al-Qaeda, United States troops and indigenous warlords.

Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous countries in the world. It sends a great amount of illegal drugs to this country and many people there are in danger of prosecution and of losing their lives. It is strange to think that the Government should reject virtually every case that comes before it of an Afghan national seeking the protection of the Government under the Geneva Convention.

When the matter was raised in the Dáil recently by Deputy Joe Higgins, the Taoiseach said that the Irish immigration system is transparent and that if the Afghan nationals did not think they were getting a fair hearing, the Taoiseach was certain they were. In fact the asylum system is not transparent or accountable. Under the current system, a person puts an application before the Refugee Applications Commissioner. If refused, the person can go to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. That body is unaccountable. It never publishes any reason it refused an application. It is well known in the Bar that of the 35 members of the tribunal who hear appeals, some boast about the fact that they have never let a non-national through. That is not what I regard as a very accountable or transparent appeals mechanism.

Following on that, there are grounds for humanitarian appeal. That is at the discretion of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform who accepts or rejects it. We have seen already that the Minister does not even read the appeals, but nods through whatever is approved by his officials. We have a system which is slow, cumbersome and anything but transparent and accountable. For some reason, some people in the Department have got it in their heads that with regard to this system, Afghanistan is a safe and secure country. As a result, they simply refuse the applications. That is outrageous. People should not be sent home willy-nilly to a country where they will undoubtedly be persecuted.

At this moment a protest is taking place outside the Garda national immigration bureau against the proposed deportation of Nigerian and Algerian nationals. I am aware of one Nigerian involved, Abdel Karim Aissiou, who has spent five years in this country and is an aged-out minor who went to O'Connell School in my constituency and is preparing for his applied leaving certificate. He has now spent 46 days in prison in Ireland, although he was in direct provision in a hostel, because it was alleged he had not responded to a deportation order. He had spent all his life in a hostel, so the authorities knew precisely where he was. Now, after five years and after receiving an Irish education, he is told he is being deported. Dozens of other people are in the same situation.

That is not a transparent or accountable system. Specifically, I would like to see some meaningful response with regard to the Afghan nationals.

See this speech in context