Australian job interviewee arrested and deported

Caroline O’Doherty

John Meawad, 30, never even got to meet his prospective employer, Waterford man Akram Hanna, who was very keen to sign him up for the E70,000 a year post.

“I feel I should go over to him on my knees and say ‘I’m sorry for what happened but please believe me, Ireland is not like this’,” Mr Hanna said.

Mr Meawad, an Australian citizen working and living in Britain, was detained by immigration officers when he flew into Cork Airport on Tuesday to meet Mr Hanna after he replied to a job advertisement in a British pharmaceutical journal.

Mr Hanna could not get a work permit in advance for Mr Meawad as he had to register with the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland first, a procedure which requires residency in Ireland.

As Mr Meawad resides in Britain, both men presumed the common travel area applied and that he would not need a tourist visa.

Mr Hanna conceded he was wrong about this, but he was furious that immigration officers refused to use discretion in the matter.

By the time Mr Hanna got a solicitor on to the case, Mr Meawad had been deported. In the meantime he was held in Togher Garda Station in Cork city where, Mr Hanna said, he was not allowed to take phone calls.

Mr Hanna owns the Mari Mina chain of pharmacies with outlets in Mullinahone, Co. Tipperary, where the vacancy was; Lismore and Ardmore in Co. Waterford and Rathcormac, Co. Cork.

He has had difficulty filling positions and was delighted with Mr Meawad’s qualifications.

A Department of Justice spokesman said last night immigration officers had full powers to refuse entry to arrivals they believed did not meet the legal requirements.

The spokesman would not comment specifically on Mr Meawad’s case but said people turned away under similar circumstances would not be prohibited from applying to come here again.

Mr Hanna said Mr Meawad was “shaken and frightened” and too upset to talk about his experiences.