THE GOVERNMENT has been accused of “State-sponsored child abuse” for deporting a mother to Nigeria without her four-year-old son, who has been placed in State care.
The mother, who came to Ireland in 2005 to claim asylum, and her son, were both arrested at Dublin airport on August 16th for evading deportation orders. She was sent to prison and her son was placed in the care of the Health Service Executive (HSE).
A few days later, an application by the HSE to lift the care order to enable the child to accompany his mother on a deportation flight was refused by the District Court, which ruled it was not in the best interests of the child.
The Garda National Immigration Bureau subsequently deported the mother on September 1st, leaving the child in State care.
The court hearings in the case have been held in camera to protect the child’s identity, although some details have been revealed through answers to Dáil questions.
Fine Gael TD Alan Shatter said yesterday the decision by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern to separate mother and child amounted to “State-sponsored child abuse 21st-century style”. He said it made a mockery of Mr Ahern’s recent comments at a press conference to publish the Murphy report into clerical child sex abuse when he apologised for the State agency’s failings in dealing with child protection in the past.
“While he was making his Murphy speech, a four-year-old child had been taken from his mother at Dublin airport and placed into the care system.
“I understand he has had three different foster parents . . . This will almost certainly harm the child,” said Mr Shatter, who added keeping a child in care also costs the State thousands of euros.
In answers to Dáil questions, Mr Ahern said representatives of the immigration bureau had made sustained efforts to communicate with the mother in Nigeria to facilitate the return of her son.
“It is in the best interests of the child that he be repatriated with his mother in their country of origin,” said Mr Ahern, who noted the mother had evaded a deportation order for almost four years.
Because the son was born after the coming into force of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 2004, he does not have the right to Irish citizenship. However, the District Court’s decision not to release him from HSE care means he cannot be deported to Nigeria to be reunited with his mother, at least for the time being.
Since her deportation in September, the bureau has spoken to the mother by phone in Nigeria.
During the call on October 17th, she said she did not want the child to be returned to her in her country of origin and refused to disclose her whereabouts. Subsequent attempts to contact her have been unsuccessful.
Mr Shatter, who is lobbying Mr Ahern on the case, wants the Government to reverse its deportation order against the mother to reunite the family in Ireland. “I have little sympathy for the woman, who evaded deportation, but the child should not be punished for her actions. There should be a right to family reunification.”
An application has been made by the court-appointed guardian ad litem(legal representative) of the child requesting the deportation order in respect of his mother be revoked to allow her to re-enter the State to be reunited with her son.
Mr Ahern’s spokesman yesterday accused Mr Shatter of trying to drive a “coach and four” through the decision of voters in the 2004 citizenship referendum, which removed the automatic right to citizenship. “This is a terrible situation but that doesn’t mean you can put the decision of the people through the office shredder,” he said.
DEPORTATION FLIGHTS TO NIGERIA
THE GOVERNMENT forcibly deports about 200 failed asylum seekers from Nigeria back to their home country every year by chartering special flights in co-operation with other EU states. In September 2009, it flew 13 failed asylum seekers to Lagos. Last week, it deported 46 Nigerians from Dublin to Lagos while in October, a further 48 Nigerians were deported.
Nine out of 10 asylum applications lodged by Nigerians fail. It is very rare for the State to deport the parents of a child while leaving their child or children in State care. There have been cases reported where whole families whose asylum claims have failed have been deported. There are also a few hundred cases of unaccompanied minors arriving in Ireland to claim asylum. They are typically placed under State care.
There has been a sharp fall in the total number of asylum applications in 2009 from all countries. In the first 11 months of the year, 2,503 applications had been received. In 2008, a total of 3,807 applications were received.