Unjust deportations must be stopped

Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh has warned against the threat of larger deportations of immigrants after attending a rally outside the Progressive Democrat offices on Tuesday. The rally was held to protest the deportation this week of Nigerian woman Kate Bamidele, who fled to Ireland after being sentenced to death by stoning.

Ó Snodaigh said Minister for Justice Michael McDowell had promised to resolve the situation 11,000 immigrant families found themselves in after a ruling 18 months ago, which said that non-national parents of Irish-born children were not entitled to Irish citizenship. However, McDowell has failed to do anything for the families affected by the ruling and is now planning to deport many of them.

The Dublin TD slammed the Minister for his callous behaviour and demanded an end to his deportation policies. He also said he had serious concerns over the fact that there is no monitoring body in Ireland to ensure that deportations that take place do so in a humane and considerate way.