An average of 59 asylum seekers arrived in Ireland every day last week.
That’s according to the latest IPAS figures that show 411 people applied for international protection here in the seven days ending on May 28th.
Of these, 150 were single men, 37 were single women, and 121 were children.
Breakdown of asylum seeker arrivals. Image: IPASIt represents a slight increase on the 378 arrivals the week previous, but a significant drop off from the 610 arrivals in the week ending on May 5th – a record for this year.
There are now 30,757 asylum seekers in State accommodation, 7,555 of whom are children, located across 301 centres.
The most common origin country of last week’s international protection applicants was Jordan (116), followed by Palestine (76) and Nigeria (37).
Breakdown of asylum seeker arrivals. Image: IPASNigeria now has the most nationals being accommodated by the State at 6,075.
This is followed by 3,563 from Georgia and 3,049 from Algeria – two countries designated as ‘safe’ by the Government.
According to Department of Integration figures, 8,638 asylum seekers arrived in Ireland this year and of these, 35% (or 3,076) have been single males.
Breakdown of asylum seeker arrivals. Image: IPASIt comes as an encampment along the Grand Canal in Dublin was removed this morning - the third time tents have been cleared this month.
Five buses carrying the men left shortly before 8am and fresh barriers were erected along the canal.
The Government is currently seeking to expand asylum-seeker accommodation across the State and is planning to open a new processing centre outside the capital.
Capacity at a site in Crooksling is reportedly set to double, while around 100 asylum seekers will be housed in Ballyogan in the coming days.
The plan also includes the use of Thornton Hall in north Dublin, which is expected to be operational in the coming weeks.
Additional reporting by Barry Whyte.
Main image: Asylum seeker tents along the grand canal, 29-05-24. Image: Sasko Lazarov / © RollingNews.ie
