Seanad debates

Thursday, 3 July 2003

Immigration Bill 2002 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] : Report and Final Stages.

 

The new subsection (2)(c) provides for the possibility of an appeal against the transfer of an application being non-suspensive, in other words, a decision to transfer an application to a convention country or a safe third country can have immediate effect, even in cases where an appeal has been made, on the basis that sending the person there will not put him or her at risk of persecution and the country will be processing the person's claim for asylum, in the case of convention countries, or consistent with analogous terms of any future agreement that might be negotiated with a safe third country. This means that if we have such an agreement with, say, Switzerland and if somebody gets off a Zurich flight into Dublin, an immigration officer will be in a position to say we have an agreement with Switzerland and the person must go back to Switzerland. If the person says he or she wants to appeal against that decision, the officer will say he or she will have to appeal against it from Switzerland. He or she cannot appeal against it in Ireland. That is what a non-suspensive appeal means. It does not mean one cannot make an appeal; it just means he or she cannot put his or her foot in the door and keep it there in circumstances where we are equally satisfied that the foot would be just as safe if the door was shut against the person and he or she stood outside.

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