Ahern urged to let family stay

AMNESTY International Ireland and the Irish Refugee Council have urged Justice Minister Dermot Ahern to let Pamela Izevbekhai and her two young daughters stay in Ireland.

Both organisations were disappointed that the Sligo-based mother lost her High Court challenge to her deportation yesterday.

The National Women’s Council of Ireland and the Children’s Rights Alliance have also urged the minister to intervene.

Ms Izevbekhai is to appeal her case to the Supreme Court and remains hopeful things will go her way.

Last November the European Court of Human Rights asked the Government not to deport Ms Izevbekhai and her daughters, Naomi and Jemima, because it wanted to consider her arguments.

If the European Court rejects her case, she may be deported while awaiting the Supreme Court ruling.

The Irish Refugee Council urged Mr Ahern to use his discretion to let the family stay in Ireland so they could stop living in fear.

If the children returned to Nigeria they faced the threat of female genital mutilation that the United Nations likened to torture, said its spokeswoman, Róisin Boyd. “As children they deserved to be safe,” she said.

Amnesty International Ireland said Mr Ahern must act to protect the family as a matter of “absolute urgency”.

Executive director Colm O’Gorman said: “The court’s refusal to undertake a substantial review of the merits of the case, or to take into account the new information presented by Ms Izevbekhai and her lawyers, is deeply regrettable.”