On January 23, 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in M.A, S.A. and A.Z v International Protection Appeals Tribunal and Others that an EU member state that has submitted its intention to withdraw from the EU must still accept asylum applicants due to its obligations under the Dublin III Regulation until withdrawal is final. The case concerns a family that lived in the U.K. and then moved to Ireland after their U.K. visas expired, where they applied for asylum. Ireland sought to return the family to the U.K., as applicants may be sent back to the first EU country where they arrive under the Dublin rules, and the family attempted to block the move, citing the U.K.’s impending departure from the EU. As noted in the press release, the Court held that the U.K. must continue accepting such applicants for now and that a notice of withdrawal “does not have the effect of suspending the application of EU law in that Member State and that, consequently, that law continues in full force and effect in that Member State until the time of its actual withdrawal from the EU.”