A coalition of equality and civil rights groups has called on the Minister for Justice to stop "forcing Irish children to leave Ireland" through the deportation of their migrant parents. Olivia Kelly reports.
The Coalition Against the Deportation of Irish Children yesterday wrote to Mr McDowell asking that families of Irish children, who made residency applications before the automatic right to resident status was withdrawn in February, be allowed to stay in the State.
The group is also calling for Mr McDowell to put in place "fair and transparent" procedures where all families of Irish children, including those who have made applications since February, can apply for residency,
Speaking at a conference marking Universal Children's Day yesterday, the coalition, made up of more than 15 groups including the Immigrant Council of Ireland, the Children's Rights Alliance and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, said families were already being deported, although exact numbers were not available.
The chief executive of the Children's Right's Alliance, Mr Raymond Dooley, said 11,000 parents who had lawfully applied for residency before February were now at risk of deportation. Many had abandoned claims on legal advice that they could rely on their application for residency.
"This is a very unjust change in the rules, applying retrospectively the Supreme Court decision to people who have made lawful applications," he said.
This change in policy by the Department of Justice was leaving families in a situation of uncertainty and threat and was violating the rights of Irish citizen children.
"The Minister has repeatedly said he intends to insist that parents forced to leave Ireland, or leaving through voluntary repatriation, take their children with them. That is tantamount to deportation of these children," Mr Dooley said.
The Human Rights Commission and the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism recommended that parents of Irish children be granted residency, he said, and the coalition's call for this recommendation to be implemented was endorsed by more than 70 groups and individuals, including Mrs Mary Robinson.
The coalition is also asking the Minister to restore free legal aid to families facing deportation orders. The majority of immigrants were financially incapable of defending their claims, said Ms Eleanor Edmond, solicitor with the Free Legal Advice Centres.
"It is likely that there will be injunctions against the deportations and it is likely that we will see cases in court in the near future, but these have been slow in coming because people have been denied legal aid," she said.