Ex-immigration appeals judge attacks State’s failure to tackle trafficking

A JUDGE who was on the Immigration Appeals Tribunal launched a blistering attack on the State’s failure to effectively crack down on people-trafficking.

Judge Desmond A Zaidan spoke out when dealing with the prosecution of a Chinese restaurant worker who tried to flee when gardaí called to check immigration documents.

Ming Zhang dashed out the back door from the kitchen of the Royal Chinese restaurant in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, but was arrested by gardaí who had covered front and rear entrances, the judge was told.

Detective Sergeant Dessie Sheridan told Donegal District Court he was unsure how long Zhang had worked there. His employer was believed to be in Hong Kong.

The Lebanese-born judge asked: “What’s the State doing about employers who illegally employ people like this man? It’s rampant.”

He compared the issue with drugs cases in which the people who appeared in courts were “small fry” — the so-called mules and addicts. In illegal immigration cases those who appeared were desperate people whose predicament was well-known to employers.

Garda Inspector Ernie White pointed out that the Immigration Office was liaising with gardaí all around the country, and that only recently in the Circuit Court in Dublin a man was convicted of trafficking.

“It’s not being ignored,” he said.

But the judge said: “All we are getting is desperate people who are desperate to make a living. The big people are outside.”

Det Sgt Sheridan said he wasn’t even satisfied he had the right name for the defendant, who was charged with having no documents between January 1, 2005, and June 6, 2007. Information was “near impossible” to get from the Chinese authorities and Zhang was “very cautious”.

The judge said: “Don’t mince your words. He is afraid to say something that will point you in the direction of the main players.”

He expressed personal sympathy for Zhang’s predicament but said he couldn’t allow emotion to cloud his duty to uphold the law. If people were allowed to abuse the immigration regulations “millions” of other desperate people would follow them.

“It’s a complex area that must be addressed,” he said.

Zhang, on whom a deportation notice has already been served, was jailed for four months when he admitted having no documentation.