Sisters back at school as mother flees state
Senita and Yesunia Appiakorang were due to arrive back in South Africa early on Sunday morning, but the deportation was halted after their mother disappeared over the weekend. Nteta Appiakorang is thought to have fled to England.
Gardaí from the National Immigration Bureau in Dublin are working with police in London to try to locate the mother-of-two and extradite her back to Ireland.
However, if the 38-year-old woman is located and brought back to Ireland, she and her two children will then be deported to her country of origin, senior gardaí confirmed.
Eleven-year-old Senita and Yesunia, eight, returned to school at Moyderwell, Tralee, which they have attended for two and a half years.
But they had given away many of their school books and uniforms in anticipation of their return to South Africa.
The woman who is taking care of them, Cara Wallace-Costello, of Castlemaine, Co Kerry, said there was a ring-around for book lists and for uniforms on Sunday night. She said the best thing for the children, who have received glowing school reports, was stability and security and she was meeting social services yesterday in a bid to keep the children with her for as long as possible.
Ms Wallace also said that Ms Appiakorang acted out of love of her children and sought to protect them by leaving this country. Ms Appiarkorang is afraid to go back to South Africa because, she says, her husband and son were murdered there because of their tribal and political beliefs. There are also concerns over her health as an illness she is suffering from is potentially life-threatening if she does not receive the proper medication.
Gardaí confirmed there will be no moves to deport the children without their mother and gardaí are making arrangements with social services regarding the children’s immediate future.
Superintendent Pat Sullivan, Caherciveen, Co Kerry, said the deportation order remained in place.
Gardaí and Ms Cara Wallace-Costello said they did not know Ms Appiakorang’s exact whereabouts in England, but believe she is safe and well.
A person rang from a London number to tell Ms Wallace-Costello that the South African woman was safe, but there has been no direct contact to her (Ms Wallace-Costello) from Ms Appiakorang.
“The children have lived with me for the last eight weeks. I know them very well,” said Ms Wallace-Costello said, adding that Ms Appiarkorang’s major concern was that the girls would come to harm if they returned to South Africa.
Ms Wallace-Costello said that, until last Friday, everyone expected the Justice Minister Michael McDowell, to grant her leave to stay. “When she heard on Friday afternoon she was to be deported the next day she became extremely upset.”
It became clear at 6.30am on Saturday that Ms Appiakorang had left Ms Wallace-Costello’s house, in Castlemaine, from where she was due to travel with her family to Dublin to take a flight to South Africa later that day.
There was an extensive garda and mountain rescue search operation for her on Saturday night and Sunday.
Ms Appiakorang left a note saying she wasn’t going back alive to South Africa. She had taken alcohol and medication and there were fears for her safety.
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