Undocumented arrivals still pouring into Dublin Airport without passports
The number of people arriving at Dublin Airport without a passport is continuing at similar levels to that which saw almost 16,000 people arrive from 2020-25 the Irish Department of Justice has confirmed.
The news comes after News Letter reported unionist concerns following media reports that 16,000 people had arrived at Dublin Airport without passports between 2020 and 2025.
The Irish Department of Justice (IDOJ) confirmed a figure of 15,413 people to the News Letter this week and says it is investigating passengers who destroy their passports while in flight to Dublin.
It also confirmed that arrivals without passports so far in 2026 remains close to 2024 and 2025 levels, with 894 such people arriving by the end of June. The figures for 2024 and 2025 were 2,297 and 2,067 respectively.
In a statement to the News Letter, the IDOJ confirmed: "The majority of those who present without appropriate documentation and are refused leave to land then indicate that they wish to enter the international protection process."
The department also acknowledged that passengers are destroying passports in flight and that it is carrying out intelligence-led aircraft inspections to detect those responsible.
TUV MLA Timothy Gaston said: “Dublin has now officially admitted the truth. Thousands of people have been able to arrive at Dublin Airport without passports, with the majority then entering the asylum system.
“Far from being a historic problem, the figures show that the trend is continuing in 2026 at broadly the same level as recent years.
“It is particularly striking that the Department of Justice acknowledges it has had to carry out intelligence-led operations on aircraft to detect passengers destroying their documents during flights. That is an admission that the authorities know this abuse is taking place.
“The need for routine checks on the land border is now obvious.
“Any border security strategy which fails to address the reality of undocumented migrants moving freely from the Irish Republic is plainly inadequate. The first duty of any government is to know who is entering its jurisdiction and to ensure that immigration laws are properly enforced.”
The Home Office says asylum seekers in Northern Ireland – of which there were 2,608 in December – are not dispersed from GB and that "only those claiming for asylum in NI are housed there".
An Irish Department of Justice spokesman said: "The establishment of a person’s identity and nationality is an essential element of our immigration process.
"At ports of entry, Immigration officials conduct passport checks, and run operations as required, to ensure passengers arriving in the State are properly documented...
"Where a non-EEA national presents at a port of entry without documents or is identified as having false or fraudulently obtained documents they are refused entry to the State...
"If a person indicates or is identified as being in need of international protection they are admitted to the international protection process.
"It is the case that the majority of those who present without appropriate documentation and are refused leave to land then indicate that they wish to enter the international protection process.
"The EU Migration Pact introduces mandatory processing times for International Protection applications... This will apply to, amongst others, people who have misled authorities such as by destroying identity documents."