Plans to deport up to 700 parents of Irish-born children
The group composed of numerous refugee, human rights, legal NGOs and community action groups was formed after 700 non-EU immigrant parents of Irish citizen children received letters in the last three weeks informing them they face deportation following a landmark Supreme Court decision in January.
The Department of Justice is in the process of voiding 11,000 outstanding residency applications from immigrant parents made on the basis they had become parents of Irish children. This follows January's ruling which rejected the automatic right of non-EU immigrants to remain here simply if they had an Irish child.
The Coalition Against Deportation of Irish Children (CADIC) expressed alarm over the timing of sending the first deportation notices to parents affected since both the Dáil and the courts are not sitting and many solicitors are on holiday.
Controversially those issued with deportation orders under the ruling are not allowed free legal aid and only have 15 days to make a case for humanitarian leave after receiving notice of deportation.
A spokesperson for the coalition was surprised at the lack of consideration shown to the future of the deported Irish children and said the group would focus heavily on the rights of the children concerned as well as supporting any legal challenges "It was decided to support test cases regarding the non-availability of free legal aid to parents of Irish citizens threatened with deportation and to the inequality between adult and children citizens in this regard," the spokeswoman said.
Some children to be deported will not be accorded citizenship in their parents' countries of origin while in other countries will have to pay a monthly fee simply to live in their parents' countries of origin as is the practice in Romania and Moldova.
The spokeswoman added that everything would be done to ensure the rights of children were protected.
"Since the State is insisting that Irish children citizens be deported together with their migrant parents, the coalition will concentrate on the infringement of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by Ireland, and insist the Government take the future of these children into consideration," she said.
The coalition is also seeking clarification from the Department of Justice about a large range of issues that have arisen among the thousands of immigrants and asylum seekers who have made claims for residency based on an Irish-born child.
No one from the Department of Justice was available last night. However, Justice Minister Michael McDowell has said he will not make any exceptions to the immigration laws to maintain the integrity of the asylum system.
