Irish jailed in Britain 'could face deportation'

Hundreds of Irish citizens jailed in Britain could be facing deportation upon release despite having lived there for years, it was claimed today.

The Irish Commission for Prisoners Overseas said 700 Irish people were behind bars and may be held there when their sentences are over while UK Home Office officials decide whether to kick them out of the country.

The measures were brought in after it emerged in April foreign nationals who had been jailed were being freed and allowed to go back into society without first being assessed for deportation.

The scandal resulted in Home Secretary Charles Clarke MP losing his job and a decision by the British government to keep foreign nationals in custody pending a deportation assessment.

Grainne Prior, co-ordinator of the ICPO, said 40 Irish people were kept in custody and assessed for deportation in the last month alone.

“These are cases that have come to our attention – there may be many more people being unlawfully detained,” she said. “This increase is a cause for concern and represents additional hardship for prisoners and their families.”

Figures from the ICPO showed there are 1,600 EU citizens in UK prisons with Irish people by far the largest group numbering around 700.

Ms Prior said Irish people who have been living in the UK for a number of years are being unjustly detained pending a decision on a deportation order.

“The ICPO believes that the present circumstances surrounding deportation are in contravention of EU law,” she said.

“Whereas a country has a right in relation to deportation of a non-national who has committed serious crime, the instances where this can happen are listed as serious grounds of public policy or public security for those residing for five years and as imperative grounds for those residing for ten years or more.”

Ms Prior went on: “Many of the Irish people being subjected to deportation decisions have not only lived in the UK for many years but have families there; their children have attended English schools and are totally integrated into English society.

“The ICPO believes that by abandoning people at airports back in Ireland where they have no family support or a place to stay there is a higher likelihood that they will find themselves involved in crime, even petty crime in order to survive.

“If the transition from the institutional life of prison to the opportunities and hopes that freedom presents are not managed and supported society is failing, not just the ex-prisoner, but society itself.”

The ICPO was set up in 1985 with two offices, one in Co Kildare and the other in London, to provide advice and practical support to Irish prisoners overseas as well as their families.