WHAT HAPPENS IF THE MINISTER DECIDES TO GIVE YOU A DECLARATION AS A REFUGEE?

If the Refugee Applications Commissioner or the Refugee Appeals Tribunal makes a recommendation to the Minister that you should be given a declaration as a refugee the Minister will give you a declaration in writing stating that you are a refugee. In accordance with section 3 of the Refugee Act, 1996 (as amended) and subject to any limitations laid down therein, you would then be entitled to:

• seek and enter employment in the State;
• carry on any business, trade or profession in the State;
• have access to education and training in the like manner and to the like extent in all respects as an Irish citizen;
• receive the same medical care and services and the same social welfare benefits as an Irish citizen;
• reside in the State;
• the same rights of travel in or to or from the State as those to which Irish citizens are entitled [this is on the basis that the Minister issues a travel document in accordance with section 4 of the Refugee Act, 1996 (as amended)]
• the same freedom to practise your religion and the same freedom as regards the religious education of your child as an Irish citizen;
• the same access to the courts as an Irish citizen;
• have the same right to form and be a member of associations and trade unions as an Irish citizen;
• acquire, hold, dispose or otherwise deal with real or personal property or an interest in such property in the same way and subject to the same obligations and limitations as an Irish citizen.

You will also be entitled to apply to the Minister for permission for a member of your family to enter and reside in the State, in accordance with section 18 of the Refugee Act, 1996 (as amended). 

WHAT HAPPENS IF THE MINISTER REFUSES TO GIVE YOU A DECLARATION AS A REFUGEE?

If the Minister decides not to give you a declaration as a refugee, you will be sent a Notice in writing stating that:-

• your application for a declaration as a refugee has been refused;
• the period of your entitlement to remain in the State has expired;
• the Minister proposes to make a deportation order under section 3 of the Immigration Act, 1999 requiring that you leave the State.

Where the Minister proposes to make a deportation order requiring you to leave the State, you will be given three options. These options are:

(i)         to make representations to the Minister within fifteen working days setting out why you should be allowed remain in the State;

(ii)        to leave the State before the Minister decides the matter and inform the Minister in writing of the arrangements you have made for this purpose; to avail of assistance with voluntary return, contact IOM (see more in voluntary return page)

(iii)       to consent to the making of the deportation order within fifteen working days.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THE MINISTER MAKES A DEPORTATION ORDER TO REMOVE YOU FROM THE STATE?

In accordance with the Immigration Act, 1999 (as amended), the Minister may make a deportation order against you and the notice of the deportation order may require you to:

(i)         present yourself to a member of the Garda Síochána or an immigration officer;

(ii)        produce any travel document, passport, travel ticket or other document in your                 possession to the Garda Síochána or immigration officer;

(iii)       co-operate in any way necessary to enable a member of the Garda Síochána or immigration officer to obtain a travel document, passport, travel ticket or other document required for the purpose of such deportation;

 (iv)       reside or remain in a particular district or place in the State pending removal from the State;

(v)        report to a specified Garda Síochána station or immigration officer at specified intervals pending removal from the State;

(vi)       notify such member of the Garda Síochána or immigration officer as may be specified  in the notice as soon as possible of any change of address.

Where an immigration officer or a member of the Garda Síochána, with reasonable cause, suspects that a person against whom a deportation order is in force:-

(a)        has failed to comply with any provision of the order or with a requirement in a notice under section 3(3)(b)(ii) of the Immigration Act, 1999 (as amended);

(b)        intends to leave the State and enter another state without lawful authority;

(c)        has destroyed identity documents or is in possession of forged identity documents; or, 

(d)        intends to avoid removal from the State;

the Officer concerned may arrest that person without warrant and detain that person in a prescribed place.

REVOCATION OF A DECLARATION AS A REFUGEE

The Minister may, in accordance with section 21 of the Refugee Act, 1996 (as amended), revoke a declaration as a refugee, in circumstances where a refugee:

• voluntarily re-avails of the protection of the country of his or her nationality;
• voluntarily reacquires his or her lost nationality;
• acquires a new nationality (other than the nationality of the State) and enjoys the protection of the country of his or her new nationality;
• voluntarily re-establishes himself or herself in the country which he or she left or outside which he or she remained owing to fear of persecution;
• can no longer, because the circumstances in connection with which he or she has been recognised as a refugee have ceased to exist, continue to refuse to avail of the protection of the country of his or her nationality;
• is a person who has no nationality and who is able, because the circumstances in connection with which he or she has been recognised as a refugee have ceased to exist, to return to the country of his or her former habitual residence;
• is a person whose presence in the State poses a threat to national security or public policy; or
• is a person to whom a declaration as a refugee has been given on the basis of information furnished to the Refugee Applications Commissioner or, as the case may be, the Refugee Appeals Tribunal which was false or misleading in a material particular.

Where the Minister proposes to revoke a declaration, the person concerned and his/her solicitor (if known) will be notified and will have fifteen working days from the issue of the notice containing the proposal and the reasons for it to make representations to the Minister. In cases where the Minister decides to revoke a declaration, the person concerned and his/her solicitor (if any) will be notified in writing and will have fifteen working days from the sending of the Notice containing the decision and the reasons for it to appeal to the High Court.

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