Deportations are a “horrible thing” but are necessary for Ireland’s immigration system to remain “credible,” an MEP has insisted.
Almost 1,100 asylum seekers have received deportation orders in the first half of 2024, according to figures obtained by The Irish Times - some 16% more than in the whole of 2023.
Meanwhile, as of July, 65 people had been forcibly removed from the State this year - 13 more than in all of last year.
The paper reports that plans to charter planes to forcibly remove people handed deportation orders are now at “an advanced stage”.
On The Pat Kenny Show, Ireland South MEP Michael McNamara acknowledged the significant increase compared to 2023.
“When I asked a parliamentary question as a TD, it was 857 deportation orders issued in 2023, and only 52 of those were effected,” he said.
“The [Justice] Minister, partly because of COVID, but also for other reasons best known to herself, stopped enforcing deportation orders-and that became a problem.”
Mr McNamara said deportation is a “horrible thing.”
“It's forcibly removing someone from the State - someone who came here hoping for a better life - and they're being forcibly removed,” he said.
“But I suppose for the system to be credible, it has to happen.
“It’s also supposed to come at the end of a very detailed consideration of the person's family situation [and] the links they've built up in the State and of course, the longer the process takes, the more links there will be.”
The independent MEP noted that there are challenges in dealing with certain countries whose nationals face deportation.
“Some states don’t cooperate much with the Irish State in deportations, because people may not have travel documents and may not be willing to cooperate,” he said.
“Travel documents have to be issued by the state to which they're being returned.
He said the enforcement of deportation orders dropped when the current Government came to power.
“It would seem that people became aware of that, and Ireland perhaps became a more attractive destination as a result,” he said.
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Негізгі бет 1,100 deportation orders issued so far this year
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