Refugee Council concerned about overnight deportations

The Irish Refugee Council has expressed concern about the deportation of dozens of Nigerians early this morning, including some who had entered Ireland as unaccompanied minors.

Around 50 asylum-seekers from the west African country were arrested and flown to Lagos on a specially chartered flight from Dublin this morning following the rejection of their applications for refugee status.

Many of them had received no notice of their deportation and those affected included some teenagers who had arrived in Ireland as unaccompanied minors, but had passed the age of 18 recently.

Refugee Council spokesman Peter O'Mahony said: "There has been, worryingly, an increasing pattern of deporting people who were minors when they got into the country first.

"In one particular case this time, the person being deported has no immediate family back in Nigeria [and] we are aware of one person who was within a few months of completing his Leaving Cert who was put on the deportation list."

Mr O'Mahony said he accepted that deportations had to take place, but he wanted the Government to bring more clarity to the issue.

"What we would like to see is some sharing of reasonable information with human rights groups, some clarity about why it is that people are being turned down for permission to stay here," he said.

"Refusal of permission to stay is not, strictly speaking, on merit. People who have apparently identical cases may find that, in one case, they're allowed to stay, [while] in another, they're forced to leave."