Asylum seekers stage protest over deportation

Dozens of asylum seekers who are facing deportation tonight held a vigil to protest against being separated from their families over Christmas.

A group of men from Nigeria said they were being forced to remain in Dublin while their wives and children – who have residency status – have been dispersed through the country.

They were joined at the protest by other refugees who are fighting attempts to deport them to Somalia where they say their lives are at risk.

Local people also came out to support the men, holding banners reading ‘no room at the inn’ and ‘no deportation’.

Rosanna Flynn, of the pressure group Residents Against Racism said the situation – in which the men were not allowed to stay with their families – was scandalous.

“This is a time of year when families should be together.

“We all care about families, and we all care about children, and we’re calling on the Irish Government to allow these men to join their families,” she said.

Yumi Ogunyemi, from Nigeria, said the men just wanted to be given the chance to stay with their families and earn a living.

He said they were under threat of deportation which would force them to make a decision whether to take their families back to their home country – where he said the situation was terrible – or leave their wives and children behind.

“We’ve been put in hostels and told you can go and visit your wife but you can’t stay over at all.

“We want the Minister of Justice to allow us to assist and contribute to Irish society – that is all we want,” he said.

Daud Gilingil, from Somalia, said his countrymen were also in a very difficult situation, with many of them being refused the right to stay despite facing persecution at home.

“We’ve come here to show the people in Ireland that we have fled from a country without a government, where millions are suffering,” he said.

He also said there were Somali men who had been granted residency but who were receiving no help in their attempts to rescue their families from the war-torn country, where they said they were under threat from local militia groups.