A panel urged the Justice Ministry Friday to conduct more in-depth background checks on those applying for refugee status, and not just rush them through the system if they don't at first appear to meet the requirements for approval.

The panel looked at 32 cases where the ministry fast-tracked applications after the reasons given for seeking asylum did not meet the requirements for approval.

Its report on Friday said no inappropriate decisions were discovered in the 32 instances, but "in some cases, it seemed as if the applications were judged to be ineligible for consideration for granting refugee status ... without their backgrounds having been thoroughly investigated."