More than 60% of those who applied for asylum in the last 12 months at Dublin Airport had no identity documents, according to Department of Justice figures provided to Prime Time. The category does not include Ukrainians. In the period from February 2022 to January 2023, of the 6,926 people who applied for asylum at Dublin airport, a minimum of 4213, or 61%, had no documents.
The figures do not include those who presented false documents to border officials, only those who had no documentation.
Frequently, asylum seekers “arrive with an agent, or a handler, or a facilitator” who will have supplied false documentation to allow them to board a plane, explained Carol Sinnott of Sinnott Solicitors who specialises in immigration law. The agent would typically take back the fake documents, and instruct the asylum seeker to proceed to passport control with no documents, she said…