- Title: ROMANIA: IRELAND GETS READY FOR DEPORTATION OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
- Date: 12th May 2000
- Summary: BUCHAREST, ROMANIA (MAY 12, 2000) (REUTERS) 1. EXT INTERIOR MINISTRY EXTERIORS 0.04 2. SV SOUNDBITE (English) IRISH JUSTICE MINISTER JOHN O'DONOGHUE, SAYING: "So far this year 1,150 Romanians have claimed asylum in Ireland." 0.11 3. CA CUTAWAY OF JOURNALISTS ATTENDING THE NEWS CONFERENCE 0.15 4. SV SOUDNBITE (English) O'DONOGHUE SAY
- Embargoed: 27th May 2000 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
- Country: Romania
- Reuters ID: LVAASLV2ZWM158Z8R563IIJB4A6K
- Story Text: Ireland, reacting to a mounting wave of asylum seekers,
is getting ready for the first deportation of illegal
immigrants, under an accord recently signed with Romania.
Irish Justice Minister John O'Donoghue, who recently
visited Bucharest to sign the accord, said that the move
reflected Dublin's tougher immigration policy, adopted in
April.
This readmission accord is extremely important, and one of
the principal political priorities of our government,
O'Donoghue said after signing the document with Romanian
Interior Minister Constantin Dudu Ionescu.
Dublin, he said, wanted to stem the sharp rise in the
number of asylum seekers -- from 131 in 1991, to some 6,000 in
1999. Romanians account for nearly 30 percent of asylum
seekers in Ireland.
The number was expected to soar to up to 15,000 this year,
judging by the rate of applications lodged so far.
O'Donoghue said that Romanians outnumbered refugees from
any other country seeking asylum in Ireland.
As many as 1,150 Romanians had claimed refugee status only
in the first four months of this year, compared to a total of
2,226 in 1999.
The applicants, he said, were giving Romania a bad name as
their claims of persecution at home often proved unfounded.
The accord with Romania is Ireland's first repatriation
deal with another state. The Irish authorities are getting
ready to start the first deportations within weeks, O'Donoghue
said.
From now on people found to be illegal immigrants from
Romania will be deported immediately, he said.
Deportations will become a feature of immigration law in
Ireland, as they are in other jurisdictions.
The illegal immigrants issue has embarrassed Romania's
centrist government, which is trying to speed up reforms to
boost the country's chances of joining the European Union.
Romania, with average monthly wages below 100 United
States dollars among eastern Europe's poorest countries,
opened its borders after the 1989 fall of communism. It has
signed accords allowing deportation of illegal immigrants with
18 European countries.
Bleak post-communist economics force many Romanians to
seek better prospects in the West. Irelands recent economic
boom has made it a favourite destination for Romanians, after
a rush to France and Germany in the early 1990s.
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