Gardaí seeking extradition of failed asylum-seeker

Gardaí are seeking the extradition of a South African woman who fled to England at the weekend to avoid being deported from Ireland.

38-year-old Nteta Appiakorang, who has been living in Ireland for several years, left her two children with friends on Saturday morning before fleeing her home in Co Kerry.

She is believed to have travelled to London.

Ms Appiakorang and her children were due to be deported following the failure of their asylum application and despite a local campaign in Co Kerry for the family to be granted residency rights on humanitarian grounds.

The Garda National Immigration Bureau is now working with British police in an effort to locate her and have her returned to Ireland so she can be sent back to South Africa.

Ms Appiakornag, who worked with the housing charity Threshhold, claims her life would be in danger in South Africa as she is an ethnic Zulu. Her husband and son were both murdered because of their political beliefs.