Mr Trump is due this week to introduce a new executive order seeking a new temporary ban on immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries after a US court struck down his previous order. Photo: Reuters

People from the seven predominantly Muslim countries that have been subject to Donald Trump's entry ban to the US had a 90pc success rate in seeking asylum here last year.

That is according to new figures provided by the Department of Justice which show of the 301 applications last year decided by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner (Orac) from Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Sudan and Libya, 271 were granted refugee status, with 30 refused.

This equates to a success rate of 90pc and is in contrast to an overall success rate of only 13pc of the 3,436 applications for refugee status finalised by the Orac here last year.

Mr Trump is due this week to introduce a new executive order seeking a new temporary ban on immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries after a US court struck down his previous order.

"The figures released by the Department of Justice show that people from countries that are subject to Mr Trump's ban have strong grounds for international protection," chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council (IRC), Nick Henderson, said yesterday.

"By refusing visa applications from these nationalities Mr Trump has effectively closed down safe and legal pathways to protection.

"Student, work and humanitarian visa schemes are vital ways that people can escape from situations of extreme danger and crisis."

The high success rate of asylum seekers here from the seven countries last year follows the department confirming last month that the Irish State in 2016 refused entry to 226 individuals from the seven countries.

However, 53 of those sought asylum and were admitted to the State to make a protection application.

The end-of-year statistics provided by the Orac show the highest number of asylum applications last year came from Syria.

Irish Independent