Immigration lawyer calls for reform of 'ineffective' deportation system

Vivienne Clarke

The head of Immigration at human rights law firm KOD Lyons has spoken of “the logistical nightmare of enforcing deportation orders".

Stephen Kirwan told RTÉ radio’s Today show that such orders were “extremely complex and expensive”.

“To get someone removed from the State, there is detection work that can be required. There are detentions in custody. There's trying to agree returns with the returning nation, to obtain travel documents, the cost of flights or other travel arrangements.

“And then, notwithstanding the fact that we already are under significant pressure in terms of resourcing and having a massive backlog of deportation order appointments, for example, dating back to pre-Covid times, it is a very, very complex situation.”

Mr Kirwan added that the system was incredibly ineffective. Another problem was enforceability. There was a dual challenge of obtaining the appropriate documents to facilitate exit from the State, which meant dealing with the country of origin, which required coordination at diplomatic level.

In some ways, it is a two-tier system.

Despite accelerated procedures with deportations to ‘safe countries’, the legal system was not seeing “any dent” in numbers. While there was a “two speed” system, the situation remained that some people were waiting “far, far too long” while on the other hand “we have a system where people are being rushed out the door without being heard properly, or actually being considered. So in some ways, it is a two-tier system".

Mr Kirwan said he worried about the level of cases not being “really examined”. This was not a case of “taking a shot” against the Department, it was a question of asking if it was in the best economic interest of the country to be deporting people ‘en masse’ in circumstances where they could have contributed to the economy.