Rape Crisis Network makes plea over woman's deportation

A Nigerian woman who fears her two daughters will be circumcised if deported to Nigeria must be allowed to stay in Ireland, it was claimed tonight.

Pamela Izevbekhai is currently in Mountjoy Prison while she awaits a High Court appeal against her deportation.

A ’Let her Stay’ rally is to be held this evening outside Mountjoy prison.

The Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI) said it regarded female genital mutilation (FGM) as sexual violence and as a valid reason to halt deportation to Nigeria.

It claimed that Pamela has already lost one 18-month old daughter to FGM and she fears the same fate for her two remaining daughters, Naomi (4) and Jemima (3).

“We would like to ask Minister McDowell how he can see as reasonable a decision to send children back to face sexual violence and the risk of death, RCNI executive director Fiona Neary said.

“This case should alarm us and arouse our sympathy, not cause us to turn a blind eye and ignore the problem as the minister seems to suggest.”

The Rape Crisis Centre in Sligo, where Pamela was in hiding for five weeks before her arrest, is also calling for the deportation orders to be cancelled.

A spokeswoman for the Sligo Rape Crisis Centre said: “These people have been traumatised enough they need our support not imprisonment and deportation to face the same horror.

“The fact that Pamela is now in prison is a disgrace. We call on the Department of Justice and the minister in particular to do the right thing and grant asylum to Pamela, Naomi and Jemima.

Supporters of Pamela, Naomi and Jemima are asked to log onto www.letthemstay.org.