Bernard Allen (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 376: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason the application by a person (details supplied) for refugee status was rejected. [29775/04]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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It is not the practice to comment in detail on individual asylum applications. Applications are processed in accordance with the provisions of the Refugee Act 1996, as amended and in particular having due regard to the definition of a "refugee" in section 2 of that Act which states that a refugee is a person who, owing to a well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his or her nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his or her former habitual residence, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.

In considering an asylum claim, consideration is given to the subjective and objective elements of the application. The subjective element of an asylum application concerns the applicant's individual circumstances as they are perceived and described by him or her. The objective element of the application concerns the relevant country of origin information which comes from a wide variety of sources including information from organisations such as the UNHCR, Amnesty International, the US State Department, Canadian Boards of Immigration and other EU member states as well as media and internet sources. In addition to these periodically updated sources, the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal have access to up to date news reports regarding events and developments in the countries concerned.