Judge describes refugee claimant as "audacious"

A CHINESE national who sought refugee status in Ireland after claiming to be a persecuted Christian has been described by a judge as "audacious" in his claims.

Mr Justice Brian McGovern said the asylum seeker, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had ultimately admitted he knew nothing about Jesus, the name of Jesus's mother, or where he had been born.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0908/1224278450331.html

Gardai smash immigration scam

GARDAI have smashed a lucrative scam in which human traffickers were smuggling illegal immigrants into the State.

The scam involves illegals being put on flights into the country without any documentation. When they are stopped on arrival here, they claim to be minors and are put into the care of the HSE. They later disappear from the HSE hostels after lodging claims for asylum.

Gardai have suspected for some time that many of those who disappear from HSE care are being manipulated by traffickers and have noticed that a large amount of Chinese have been travelling here from Spain.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/gardai-smash-immigration-scam-2324410.html

Asylum seeker doctor lied on CV to get job

Dr Ahmed Alastal (38) yesterday told an Irish Medical Council hearing that he had fabricated some parts of his employment experience when applying for a position in a psychiatric hospital in the Midlands.

The father of two, who lives in Portlaoise, worked as a junior doctor at St Fintan's in Portlaoise between July 2009 and October 2009.

He resigned from the job when concerns were raised about his past work experience. Dr Alastal was granted political asylum here in 2003 and was made an Irish citizen in 2008.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/palestinian-doctor-lied-on-cv-to-land-job-in-hospital-2311987.html

Two-thirds of refugees claiming to be Somalian are lying

ALMOST two-thirds of asylum seekers who claimed to be from war-torn Somalia last year were found to be lying.

The immigration authorities mounted a special operation, which involved inviting the "Somali" nationals to do interviews with a language analyst, and checking their applications against the British authorities' database.

They found that 61pc of the 104 applicants who last year said they were from Somalia had applied for visas in Britain under a different nationality.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/twothirds-of-refugees-claiming-to-be-somalian-are-lying-2163180.html

Illegals posing as children at our airports

PLANES landing at Dublin Airport are being routinely searched to root out illegal immigrants intending to pass themselves off as children in the hope that they will be taken into care, rather than deported.

The Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) has stepped up its monitoring of incoming flights in response to what it says is a growing phenomenon in which young adults, many from China, are trying to slip through Ireland's immigration laws by posing as children.

Under Irish law, children under the age of 18 who arrive in Ireland unaccompanied gain automatic entry by being placed in the care of the Health Service Executive.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/illegals-posing-as-children-at-our-airports-2083476.html

Call for action on asylum ‘mess’

The number of asylum applications received by the Department of Justice in 2009 fell by 35% when compared with 2008. But funding for the asylum and immigration service during the same period was up by 16%.

Fine Gael Immigration and Integration spokesman Denis Naughten said, "We need a determined approach to deal with the present mess and I’m calling on the minister for justice to prioritise this area in the interests of the taxpayer. By streamlining the existing asylum system, treating people with dignity and in a timely manner, we could save the taxpayer a small fortune."

Mr Naughten said, "The additional costs associated with asylum accommodation in 2009 ran at €50,000 a day more than originally projected; this is on top of a cost over-run in 2008 of €40,000 a day".

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/call-for-action-on-asylum-mess-108995.html

Pakistani fraudster took visa bid to court using fake ID

IMMIGRATION officials and gardai have uncovered a scam in which a Pakistani national used a false name in an attempt to secure visas for his alleged wife and six children.

The fraudster assumed the identity of another man, who was serving a prison sentence in Britain, and had also acquired a passport in another name.

But despite using the bogus identity, the man brought his case to the High Court when the visa applications were refused.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/fraudster-took-visa-bid-to-court-using-fake-id-1966073.html

Asylum 'shoppers' deported over scam

One-in-10 asylum seekers who arrived here this year have been deported to other EU member states because they were 'shopping' for benefits.

The extent of the racket was revealed last night after a week-long operation targeting the asylum 'shoppers' -- so-called because they shop around for better benefit deals between various EU countries.

The recent crackdown by the Garda National Immigration Bureau and the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service resulted in the arrest and deportation of 22 people, mainly Somalians, Albanians and Eritreans.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/asylum-shoppers--deported-over-scam-1934607.html

Asylum seekers posed as Somalis

IMMIGRATION authorities have uncovered a scam involving African asylum seekers, who claim to be from Somalia.

Three out of five were found to have lied about their background.

The applicants are posing as Somalis to boost their chances of being granted refugee status because they are less likely to be deported back to the war-torn country.

But a check on the background of a targeted group over the past six months has established that the majority of them were from neighbouring countries. The check was carried out using the Eurodac fingerprint system and visa databases established in the UK.

The nationality breakdown of the 'Somali' asylum seekers showed that 44 -- or two-fifths of the original batch -- were from Tanzania, eight from Somalia, six from Kenya, three from Yemen, and one each from Ethiopia and Djibouti.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/asylum-seekers-posed-as-somalis-1910835.html

Recession blamed on drop in numbers of asylum-seekers

IRELAND'S precarious economic situation appears to be discouraging asylum-seekers from seeking refuge in this country, latest statistics have show.

Quarterly figures from the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC) show 790 would-be refugees have arrived so far this year. Based on those figures, the total expected this year will be in the region of 3,160, a fall of more than 600 from the 3,807 who arrived last year.

The decline has been in the order of 22%, backing up claims made by former Minister for Justice Michael McDowell that many applicants were in fact "economic migrants".

http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-news/article/2009/apr/19/recession-blamed-on-drop-in-numbers-of-asylum-seek/

Interpol assistance sought in Izevbekhai fraud investigation

Gardaí are to contact Interpol as part of a criminal investigation into the case of Nigerian asylum-seeker Pamela Izevbekhai, who has admitted forged documents were used in a bid to resist an order for her family’s deportation.

Detectives from the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) will wait for Izevbekhai’s current Supreme Court bid to overturn a deportation order against herself and her two daughters to conclude before she will be questioned under anti-fraud legislation.S

enior garda sources told The Sunday Business Post that GNIB was ‘‘compelled’’ to launch an investigation where there was a belief that a forgery had been used in an application to the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (ORAC).

http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=IRELAND-qqqm=nav-qqqid=40843-qqqx=1.asp