Asylum applications fall to lowest level in 10 years
Independent.ie
Friday January 04 2008
Asylum applications have dropped to their lowest level in 10 years, according to new figures from the Department of Justice.
The department says less than 4,000 people sought asylum in Ireland last year, down 7.6% on the figures for 2006.
This compares to an all-time high of more than 11,600 applications in 2002.
The number has been falling ever since and is now below the 4,000 threshold for the first times since 1997.
The department says the decline is due to a crackdown on abuses of the process and a streamlining of its systems.
One-quarter of all applicants last year were from Nigeria, 7% were from Iraq and 6.5% from China.
