Deportation & Return

Deportation order

The Minister shall make a deportation order in relation to a person where —

has refused to give a refugee declaration and to give a subsidiary protection to the person, and
is satisfied that the applicant is not making arrangements to leave himself or herself.
has refused any other possible bases of permission (humanitarian etc,)

A deportation order shall require the person specified in the order to leave the State within such period as may be specified in the order and thereafter to remain out of the State.

Where the Minister makes a deportation order, he or she shall notify the person specified in the order of the making of the order and of the reasons for it and, where necessary and possible, the person shall be given a copy of the notification in a language that the person understands.

A deportation order made under this legislation is deemed to be a deportation order made under the Immigration Act 1999

A deportation order shall be in the form prescribed or in a form to the like effect.

Return order

The Minister shall by ‘return order’ require a person whose application for international protection has been determined to be inadmissible, to leave the State. Where this is the case, the person specified in the return order may be returned:

another Member State has granted refugee status or subsidiary protection status to the person; , to the Member State that has granted refugee status or subsidiary protection to the person;
a country other than a Member State is, a first country of asylum for person; , to the first country of asylum for the person;
where the person arrived in the State from a safe third country to the safe third country that is a safe country for the person.

Where the Minister makes a return order, he or she shall notify the person specified in the order and his or her legal representative (if known) of the making of the order. A notification shall be in a language that the person concerned may reasonably be supposed to understand, where—

the person is not assisted or represented by a legal representative, and
legal assistance is not available to the person.

A return order shall be in the form prescribed or in a form to the like effect.]

Return of person subject of return order

An immigration officer or a member of the Garda Síochána may, for the purpose of facilitating the return of a person the subject of a return order, by notice in writing require the person to comply with one or more of the following conditions:

that he or she present himself or herself to such immigration officer or member of the Garda Síochána at such date, time and place as may be specified in the notice;
where, and only for so long as, it is reasonably necessary to facilitate his or her return, that he or she surrender his or her passport and any other travel document that he or she holds;
that he or she co-operate in any way necessary to enable an immigration officer or a member of the Garda Síochána to obtain a passport or other travel document, travel ticket or other document required for the purpose of such return;
that he or she reside or remain in a particular place in the State pending his or her return.

A notice shall be in a language that the person concerned may reasonably be supposed to understand. A person the subject of a return order shall comply with the above requirement.

Arrest for Return

Where an immigration officer or a member of the Garda Síochána considers that there is a significant risk of a person the subject of a return order absconding, the officer or member (‘arresting officer or member’) may, for the purpose of facilitating the return of the person, arrest the person without warrant and a person so arrested may be taken by an immigration officer or a member of the Garda Síochána to a prescribed place ( referred to as a ‘place of detention’) and detained—

in the place of detention under warrant of the arresting officer or member and in the custody of the officer of the Minister or member of the Garda Síochána for the time being in charge of the place, and
for a period not exceeding 7 days.

For the purpose of arresting a person, an immigration officer or member of the Garda Síochána may enter (if necessary by use of reasonable force) and search any premises (including a dwelling) where the person is or where the immigration officer or member, with reasonable cause, suspects the person to be and, where the premises is a dwelling, the immigration officer or member shall not, unless acting with the consent of an occupier of the dwelling or other person who appears to the immigration officer or member to be in charge of the dwelling, enter that dwelling unless—

the person ordinarily resides at the dwelling, or
he or she believes on reasonable grounds that the person is within the dwelling.

Factors in Decision

The matters to which an officer or member may have regard, in considering whether there is a significant risk of a person the subject of a return order absconding, include the following:

whether the person, in the purported discharge of his or her duty to establish his or her identity, has misrepresented or omitted facts, whether or not by the use of false documents;
whether the person has failed to comply with a requirement above
whether the person, having been informed of arrangements for his or her return, has failed to co-operate with those arrangements;
whether the person has explicitly expressed an intention not to comply with arrangements for his or her return;
whether the person has previously failed to comply with the law of the State, or of another state, relating to the entry or presence of foreign nationals in the State or, as the case may be, that state.

Certain of the above provisions do not apply to a person the subject of a return order who is under the age of 18 years.

If and for so long as an immigration officer or member of the Garda Síochána concerned has reasonable grounds for believing that the person the subject of a return order is not under the age of 18 years, the provisions shall apply as if the person had attained the age of 18 years.

The Minister may, in order to facilitate the return of a person the subject of a return order, issue to the person a laissez-passer or such other travel document as the Minister considers appropriate.

Detention

An immigration officer or member of the Garda Síochána may, for the purpose of the return, detain a person the subject of a return order and place him or her on a vehicle that is about to leave the State and the person shall be deemed to be in lawful custody while so detained and until the vehicle leaves the State.

A person who is detained above may, be detained—

for a period not exceeding 7 days, in a place of detention,
for a period or periods each not exceeding 12 hours, in a vehicle, for the purpose of bringing the person to the port from which the vehicle referred to, is due to leave the State, or
for a period or periods each not exceeding 12 hours, within the port referred to.

The master or person in charge of a vehicle that is about to leave the State shall, if so directed by an immigration officer or member of the Garda Síochána, receive a person the subject of a return order on board the vehicle and afford the person so received proper accommodation and maintenance during the journey concerned.

Period of validity of return order

A person the subject of a return order may, while the order is in effect, be returned in accordance with the provisions. A return order shall,, remain in effect for a period of 6 months from the date on which notification of the return order is sent.

Where a person the subject of the return order absconds in the period referred to the order shall remain in effect for a period of 12 months from the date on which notification of the return order is sent.

Where a person the subject of the return order brings an application for judicial review under Order 84 of the Rules of the Superior Courts (S.I. No. 15 of 1986) of the return order and the High Court suspends the operation of the order pending the determination of the application, the order shall remain in effect for a period of 6 months from the date of the final determination (including where notice of appeal is given, the final determination of the appeal or any further appeal therefrom or the withdrawal of the appeal) of the application concerned.

Cessation of Return Order

Where—

a return order ceases to have effect on a particular date (“relevant date’), and
by the relevant date the person the subject of the order has not been returned,

he or she shall, notwithstanding that his or her application for international protection has been determined be inadmissible, be deemed to have made, on the date immediately following the relevant date, an application for international protection and subject to this provision, the provisions of the 2015 Act shall, with any necessary modifications, apply accordingly.

The Minister shall as soon as practicable on or after the date immediately following the relevant date send the person concerned, and his or her legal representative (if known), a notice in writing—

informing him or her of the effect and
inviting the person to complete, in respect of his or her application the form prescribed and
give or cause to be given to the person a statement in the terms required.

Revocation of protection declaration

The Minister shall, in accordance, revoke a refugee declaration given to a person if satisfied that—

the person should have been or is excluded from being a refugee.
the person has,, ceased to be a refugee, or
misrepresentation or omission of facts, whether or not including the use of false documents, by the person was decisive in the decision to give the person a refugee declaration.

The Minister may, in accordance,revoke a refugee declaration given to a person if satisfied that—

there are reasonable grounds for regarding him or her as a danger to the security of the State, or
the person, having been by a final judgement convicted, whether in the State or not, of a particularly serious crime, constitutes a danger to the community of the State.

The Minister shall, revoke a subsidiary protection declaration given to a person if satisfied that—

the person should have been or is excluded from being eligible for subsidiary protection.
the person has, ceased to be eligible for subsidiary protection, or
misrepresentation or omission of facts, whether or not including the use of false documents, by the person was decisive in the decision to give the person a subsidiary protection declaration.

Revocation Procedure

Where the Minister proposes, to revoke a declaration, he or she shall send a notice in writing of his or her proposal and of the reasons for it to the person concerned, which notice shall include a statement of the person’s entitlement to make representations in writing to the Minister in relation to the proposal.

Where the Minister sends a notice to a person, he or she shall at the same time send a copy thereof to the person’s legal representative (if known) and to the High Commissioner.

A person who has been sent a notice of a proposal may, within 15 working days of the sending of the notice, make representations in writing to the Minister in relation to the proposal.

The Minister shall—

before deciding to revoke a declaration take into consideration any representations made to him or her and
where he or she decides to revoke the declaration under send a notice in writing of his or her decision and of the reasons for it to the person concerned, which notice shall include a statement of the person’s entitlement to appeal.

A person to whom a notice is sent may, within 10 working days from the date of the notice, appeal to the Circuit Court against the decision of the Minister to revoke the declaration.

Appeal to Court

The Circuit Court, on the hearing of an appeal may, as it thinks proper—

affirm the decision of the Minister, or
direct the Minister not to revoke the declaration.

A decision to revoke a declaration shall take effect where no appeal to the Circuit Court is brought against the decision of the Minister, on the date on which the period specified for making such an appeal expires, or where an appeal to the Circuit Court is brought against the decision of the Minister from the date on which the Circuit Court, affirms the decision, or from the date on which the appeal is withdrawn.