Ireland's planned overhaul of asylum system may end up mired in 'legal uncertainty and dysfunction'
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has said it fears that the scale of changes – which are supposed to be implemented by next June – are simply not feasible for the government and will result in an asylum system 'prone to legal challenge, administrative dysfunction and human rights violations'.
The government is proceeding with the fresh legislation to bring Ireland in line with EU requirements under the Asylum and Migration Pact.
The EU pact seeks to create uniform rules around the identification and speeding up of decisions on asylum claims of people who arrive from outside the EU, and to develop a common database about new arrivals to Europe.
A 'solidarity mechanism' is critical to the plan – this aims to ensure all countries share responsibility for asylum applications, rather than those that are at the edge of Europe, such as Italy and Greece.
But in its initial analysis of
legislation which proposes to introduce a new international protection system in Ireland
, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission said it has 'grave concerns' over the fairness and effectiveness of the new proposed asylum system.
The commission raised concerns over the ability of the state to meet the challenge and as to whether it was going to trample over the rights of people seeking refuge.
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Commission publishes observations on the General Scheme of the International Protection Bill 2025
In its observations on the General Scheme of the International Protection Bill 2025 (attached), the Commission expressed deep concern that implementation of the EU Migration and Asylum Pact ('the Pact') could introduce a system prone to legal challenge, administrative dysfunction, and human rights violations.
Liam Herrick, Chief Commissioner said there were particular concerns over the proposals regarding detention of asylum seekers, access to legal representation and counselling, and the treatment of children vulnerable persons give rise to particular concerns.
The proposed legislation for Ireland would broaden the circumstances under which an individual can be detained.
It would include the power to arrest and detain applicants without a warrant if they refuse to travel to screening centres, with no absolute time limit on this detention. Children could also be arrested and detained without a warrant under the proposals.
This was also of concern to the commission as Ireland is the only country governed by the EU Pact that has
not yet ratified the Optional Protocol on the Convention Against Torture,
meaning that the State will fail to afford applicants the protections deriving from the protocol.
'This is a once-in-a-generation overhaul of our asylum system. We must get it right,' Herrick said.
'In our analysis of the current draft proposals, the commission believes the State is in danger of introducing a system that fails to respect and vindicate the fundamental rights of international protection applicants.'
While Herrick said the commission recognises the complexity and challenges facing the State in implementing the Migration Pact, it also believes that many aspects of new proposals are 'impractical and may lead to the new system becoming mired in litigation and uncertainty'.
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