O'Donghue signs deportation deal with Nigeria

Justice Minister John O’Donoghue has travelled to Nigeria to sign a controversial deal making it easier for Ireland to deport Nigerian refugees whose asylum applications are rejected.

Similar deals already exist with the Governments in Romania and Poland. Ireland has recently promised to increase aid to Nigeria, but the Government has denied that this is connected to the repatriation agreement.

However, non-government organisations have described the increased aid as a bribe.

Civil and human rights groups in both Nigeria and Ireland have strongly criticised Mr O’Donoghue for accepting the deal, which will see thousands of refugees being deported from Ireland and back into one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

Nigerian citizens are routinely oppressed by their rulers and human rights abuses perpetrated by the authorities are common.

Summary executions, public floggings, political suppression and religious intolerance are how the Nigerian Government holds onto power, according to the latest report from Amnesty International.

Many human rights groups have described John O’Donoghue’s policy as racist.

They say it flies in the face of the Geneva convention on refugees, which says that asylum-seekers must be dealt with individually and not as a group.

Ironically, Minister O’Donoghue is only stopping off in Nigeria today on his way to a UN summit on racism in Durban, South Africa.

Almost all the protest groups attending the summit have urged delegates to outlaw deals like the one Mr O’Donoghue will sign today.