The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, last night ruled out mass deportations of immigrant parents of children born in Ireland, following a long-awaited Supreme Court judgment on the issue. Nuala Haughey, Social and Racial Affairs Correspondent, reports.
In a ruling that could have implications for thousands of other non-EU immigrant parents, the court held by a five-to-two majority that the parents of Irish citizens could be deported.
It dismissed an appeal by a Czech family and a Nigerian father whose asylum claims had been unsuccessful, but who claimed they were entitled to residence in the State by virtue of being parents of Irish-born children.
Although the full implications of the judgment will only unfold in the coming days, following legal analysis by the authorities, immigrant and human rights groups yesterday expressed concerns about its knock-on effect on some 10,500 similar pending applications for residence. The majority of these claims have been made by people who had initially sought asylum in the State, leading to concerns that the refugee system was being abused.
A children's rights group last night called for a moratorium on deportations while one Opposition TD proposed an amnesty for those currently in the system, many of whom may have been living in the State for several years.
Mr McDowell sought to ease concerns last night, saying it did not follow from the judgment that 10,000 people "will essentially be, by some sort of automatic expulsion procedure, sent home with their children".
He stressed on RTÉ news that the Department would consider each application for residence from immigrant parents of Irish citizens on a case-by-case basis, and would not be inflexible or unreasonable.
Later on RTÉ 1's Prime Time, Mr McDowell said he would have to decide whether to draw a distinction between current applications and future cases in consultation with his colleagues in government and interested parties and in the light of constitutional rights as well as morality and decency.
The Minister is expected to seek advice from the Attorney General's office on the legal implications of the judgment. He said he would bring any proposed reforms in the area to Government.
An alliance of refugee and human rights organisations united to express concern at yesterday's court decision. Mr Peter O'Mahony from the Irish Refugee Council said applicants in the system should have their cases processed sympathetically and on their individual merits.
The Labour Party's justice spokesman, Mr Joe Costello, said the Government must respond to cases arising from the judgment, taking full account of humanitarian considerations and the constitutional recognition given to the family as the "natural, primary and fundamental unit of society".
Fine Gael's justice spokesman, Mr John Deasy, said when the implications have been considered, the Government may need to consider a legislative moratorium for outstanding applicants.
Mr Ciarán Cuffe, Green Party spokesman, called for an amnesty for non-national parents currently in the system. The umbrella organisation, the Children's Rights Alliance called for a moratorium on the deportation of such parents until the Government could explain how the rights and well-being of their citizen children would be protected.
The judgment was given a qualified welcome by the immigration control campaigner Ms Áine Ní Chonaill. However, she said Ireland would continue to be a "mecca" as the judgment would "simply add more to the thousands of people who are theoretically deportable but are, in fact, never deported".
It is understood that the Czech family and Nigerian man who took yesterday's appeal will now be liable to deportation. Mr David Lobe attended the court without his wife or children, while the Nigerian national, Mr Andrew Osayande, did not appear. The two families had already been refused asylum in Britain and came to Ireland in 2001.
10,000 non-nationals could face deportation: 8;
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