Don’t deport Darlene, minister urged

THE Department of Justice has stepped up moves to deport immigrants whose marriages to Irish citizens have broken down.

The Irish Council of Civil Liberties yesterday described the policy as ‘inhumane’ and said it could lead to many women remaining trapped in abusive relationships for fear of being made to leave the country.

“In other countries they do not revoke residency unless the couple are divorced. They have humane policies but here you could pay your taxes for 20 years and still be deported if your marriage breaks down,” said a spokesperson.

The latest case centres around a woman from Zimbabwe whose husband has left her and her two children.

Darlene Blume, a 31-year-old mother of two, has received a letter of deportation from the Department of Justice. The letter arrived at her flat in north west Dublin on June 21, the day of her wedding anniversary.

The note, known as a ‘15-day letter’ states that Justice Minister Michael McDowell is ‘not satisfied that you are residing with your Irish citizen spouse in the State as part of a family unit and accordingly, you are a person whose deportation would, in the opinion of the Minister, be conducive to the common good’.

Darlene arrived in Ireland with her husband - the son of Irish and Zimbabwean parents - in June 2001. Because her spouse held an Irish passport she was able to work legally and obtained a job in customer relations for Aer Lingus at Dublin Airport. Six months later she brought over her two children from a previous relationship, Roshaun and Kimberly, to Dublin from Harare.

She claims her husband walked out on her and the children at the beginning of this year, leaving her and them in a legal limbo.

“I begged and pleaded with him to stay but he will not come back. There is nothing more I can do because I can’t force him to return to us. All of this was not my fault and yet my children and I are being threatened with deportation.”

Darlene explained that she is not only the breadwinner for her children but also for her elderly parents in Zimbabwe.

“I have worked to build a new life for the kids here in Dublin and I also send home money to my parents in Harare. The world knows about the shortages and the poverty in Zimbabwe. Is that what the department wants to send us back to?”

Darlene’s work colleagues, her local TD Joe Higgins and the head teacher at Kimberley’s primary school have written to the Department of Justice urging the minister to let her and her children stay in Ireland.