Written answers

Tuesday, 22 March 2005

Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform

Deportation Orders

8:00 pm

Photo of Joe HigginsJoe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Question 513: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will make a statement on the deportation of non-nationals on or around 14 March 2005, including the nationalities of those deported, the length of time the deportees were in the State, whether children or teenagers attending school were among the deportees, the number of gardaí and other personnel involved, the cost of this operation and other relevant details. [9271/05]

Photo of Michael McDowellMichael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The Garda national immigration bureau removed a total of 35 Nigerian nationals on a charter flight to Lagos on the night of 14-15 March 2005. The persons concerned were mainly former asylum seekers who had their claims for refugee status refused after full consideration by one or both of the two independent statutory offices established to consider such applications, which are the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner and the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. Their cases were further considered individually under section 3(6) of the Immigration Act 1999, as amended, and section 5 (Prohibition of Refoulement) of the Refugee Act 1996, before deportation orders were made in respect of each. The length of time each deportee spent in the State was one of 11 factors considered under section 3(6) of the Immigration Act 1999, as amended, in arriving at the decision to deport. The years in which each of the deportees claimed asylum are as follows:

Year No. who claimed asylum
2000 3
2001 10
2002 9
2003 10
2004 3

The following is a statistical analysis of the 35 persons, including nine minors under 18 years of age, some of whom would have been attending school:

Country of destination No. of adult males deported No. of adult females deported No. of male minors deported No. of female minors deported
Nigeria 16 10 7 2

The removal was carried out on an aircraft chartered by my Department at a cost of €265,000. There were 33 Garda escorts on board together with a medical team consisting of a doctor and nurse.

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