Deported mother 'left baby with partner'

A Nigerian mother who was deported left her seven-month-old daughter behind, it emerged today.

A Garda spokesman confirmed the mother had left the child with her partner, who is legally entitled to stay in the country.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties said there should be an immediate halt to the “senseless and inhumane” policy of deporting the families of Irish-born children.

Director Aisling Reidy said: “We were alerted by someone who was on the plane with the mother.

"She was crying and extremely distraught, saying she couldn’t leave without her child.”

She said the woman’s decision to leave her child showed the desperation of the situation.

“Particularly if it’s a girl child going back to Nigeria, where female genital mutilation is a genuine problem,” she said. “The state have failed to put any policies in place for Irish-born children and it really is quite disgraceful.”

The plane, which was carrying 25 failed asylum seekers and three children, landed safely in the Nigerian capital Lagos today.

The group were accompanied by officers from the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB).

Over the past few weeks the failed asylum seekers had been told to report to the GNIB.

The group was taken by bus to two detention centres in Dublin from locations across the country.

The Irish Refugee Council said the Government was storing up trouble for the future by deporting Irish-born children.

Chief executive Peter O’Mahony said: “It will come back to haunt them in the long term.

“In around 15 years’ time, you will have an 18-year-old returning from Nigeria with an Irish passport, claiming to have suffered as a result of the deportation.”

He said the deportation of young children was reminiscent of the Irish orphans who were sent to Canada after the famine in the 1840s or the Aboriginal children who were taken by white Australian families in the 1950s.

Last year, 1,174 people were recognised as refugees, while another 590 people were deported. A further 83 people were given leave to remain on humanitarian grounds.

Mr O’Mahony said most of the 60-70 people deported each month were put on individual flights rather than charter planes.

“Although this deportation is partly being done as a cost-saving exercise, it is also being done to keep the issue in the public eye,” he said.

However, he added that gardaí appeared to have followed more of the council’s guidelines on deportations, such as allowing people to contact a solicitor on their mobile phones.

“There was some intention to be aware of high standards.”

Following the vote in favour of the Citizenship Referendum in June, children born to non-national parents are no longer entitled to automatic Irish citizenship.

The Department of Justice said it does not comment on individual cases.