The number of people who have applied for international protection here in the first three months this year is up over 72% in comparison to the same period last year.
The new figures from the Department of Justice revealed that up until March 28th 5,163 asylum seekers arrived in Ireland - 3,077 of whom are men and 2,081 of whom are women.
The majority of applicants are from Nigeria (32%), Bangladesh (8%) and Pakistan (7.7%).
A full breakdown of applications by nationality for 2024 can be seen below:
| Applications by Nationality 2024* | |
| Nigeria | 1,668 |
| Bangladesh | 416 |
| Pakistan | 400 |
| Somalia | 365 |
| Afghanistan | 243 |
| Zimbabwe | 209 |
| Georgia | 183 |
| South Africa | 177 |
| Palestinian Territory, Occupied | 170 |
| Jordan | 154 |
| Algeria | 124 |
| Botswana | 104 |
| Democratic Republic of The Congo | 69 |
| Syrian Arab Republic | 62 |
| Brazil | 59 |
| Albania | 54 |
| India | 52 |
| Egypt | 47 |
| Ukraine | 46 |
| Swaziland | 45 |
| El Salvador | 43 |
| Viet Nam | 35 |
| Malawi | 31 |
| Morocco | 26 |
| Ghana | 25 |
| Sudan | 22 |
| Cameroon | 19 |
| Iran | 19 |
| Mauritius | 17 |
| China | 15 |
| Iraq | 15 |
| Nicaragua | 14 |
| Sri Lanka | 14 |
| Zambia | 12 |
| Angola | 11 |
| Guatemala | 11 |
| Sierra Leone | 11 |
| Turkey | 11 |
| Yemen | 11 |
| Kenya | 10 |
| Uganda | 10 |
| Bolivia | 9 |
| Ethiopia | 7 |
| Honduras | 7 |
| Venezuela | 7 |
| Argentina | 6 |
| Eswatini | 6 |
| Nepal | 6 |
| Others** | 86 |
| Total | 5,163 |
Between January 1st and March 31st 2023, 2,995 people applied for international protection here.
Housing
The increase in the number of asylum seekers arriving here comes at a time when the Government is struggling to source accommodation; the State ceased offering accommodation to all new male International Protection Applicants on 4 December last year citing a "severe shortage".
There are currently 1,529 male asylum seekers awaiting an offer of accommodation and currently scores of IPAs are sleeping in tents in Dublin city centre, many of whom are sleeping outside the International Protection Office on Mount Street.
If the number of people applying for international protection in Ireland this year continues at the same rate for the rest of 2024, then over 20,000 asylum seekers will arrive in Ireland this year
In 2022 a record 13,651 IPA’s arrived here, while in 2023 the figure was 13,277.
A spokesperson for the Department of Integration said the number of people applying for international protection has increased substantially “with January and February representing the highest number of monthly applications on record”.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for DCEDIY also said that “the pipeline of accommodation is reducing, with accommodation that does become available in many cases facing opposition”.
The Department describes the system as under severe pressure and whatever accommodation that can be found currently is being offered to families “in order to avoid women and children becoming homeless”.
Main image: People outside the International Protection Office in Dublin. Image: Sam Boal/RollingNews
