Ireland's asylum system 'wide open' for exploitation, claims ex-Army chief
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Ireland's asylum system is "wide open" for exploitation with people able to come here with false passports or no passports at all, a former Army intelligence chief claimed yesterday.
Michael Murphy, who is the former deputy director of military intelligence of the Defence Forces, said this represents a serious risk to the State. The claim came as a report warned the Government that immigration officials here may not be able to perform proper identity checks and security screening due to the country's lack of access to key EU security databases.
This is because of the country's exclusion from the Schengen Area and the related IT border security systems. Speaking on RTE's This Week, Mr Murphy said anyone can come to this country on a false passport or no travel documents.
He said: "The system is wide open for abuse. You have people coming in, travelling in without passports."
On the same RTE programme, Aontu leader Peadar Toibin said Irish immigration officials not being able to access EU databases on criminal records of asylum seekers was down to a lack of Government information. He added: "The Government hasn't a clue what's going on in so many aspects to this."
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