Tomorrow will probably be routine for most of us in this country, but for one Romanian man it will be traumatic. It is the day he is due to be deported from the State.
The man, who does not wish to be named, has been here for 21/2 years and has completed all Department of Justice application procedures for refugee status.
Then two weeks ago he received a letter dated January 15th telling him that in 14 days he would be deported.
He attended the press conference for Democratic Left's Private Member's Bill which would provide an amnesty for asylum-seekers already in the State. He said the Department letter stated that he had 14 days to make representation on why he should be allowed to stay on humanitarian grounds.
"I came here and gave my reasons and I can't change those reasons overnight. I explained why I want to stay here on my application," he said. "The way of dealing with this isn't fair and it does not run smoothly."
The whole process was bad, he said. Asylum-seekers were not allowed to work so they lost any skills they had. This meant they could not make contacts or get to know anybody while they were here.
The man, who is over 40 and has no family here, clearly did not want to face the prospect of a return to Romania. He said he would prefer not to talk about it.