Immigration officer gives evidence in trafficking trial

An immigration officer has today told a jury that she refused 14 Mauritian nationals entry into the State because she did not believe they were coming to Ireland for a holiday as they claimed.

Detective Garda Michelle O’Connor from the National Immigration Bureau was giving evidence in the trial of Olaitan Ilori (aged 38) who is charged with trafficking illegal immigrants into Ireland.

Mr Ilori of Oak Drive, Blessington, Co Wicklow, has pleaded not guilty that between March 1 and October 27, 2004, he organised or knowingly facilitated the entry into the State on October 27, 2004, of 14 Mauritian nationals, whom he knew or had reasonable cause to believe were illegal immigrants

Det Gda O’Connor told Mr Alex Owens SC (with Mr Patrick McGrath BL), prosecuting, that none of the Mauritian nationals had a work permit and she refused them entry into Ireland because she believed they were coming to the country for reasons other than that which they claimed.

"I basically thought they were telling lies," she said.

Det Gda O’Connor did not accept a later suggestion from Ms Aileen Donnelly SC, defending, that in 2004 there was a "fairly lax policy" in relation to non-EU citizens coming to Ireland looking for work but that this was later changed.

"No, I don’t agree with that. I have never heard that. That was never my instructions," Det Gda O’Connor replied.

Det Gda O’Connor was working on Pier C at the immigration booths at Dublin Airport on October 27, 2004, when an Air France flight came in from Charles De Gaulle.

She saw Mr Ilori queue before her but said "for some reason" he changed queues.

A group of Mauritian nationals then presented themselves to her, and one of them, Mr Indradev Jhuboo, approached and said he had travelled from Mauritius with 13 friends. There were four women, eight men and two children in the group.

Det Gda O’Connor then asked each person to present their passport, landing card and return tickets to Mauritius. All 14 landing cards indicated that the duration of the person’s stay was four weeks and the purpose of their visit was tourism.

They all also had open return tickets to Mauritius that were valid up to the end of February 2005.

She also asked each passenger how much money they had with them for their stay in Ireland and they each presented a sum of cash ranging from €600 to €5,000.

Det Gda O’Connor said a family of four presented in the group and medical attention was sought for the son after his mother complained that he was running a high temperature. The woman and two children were taken to Temple Street Hospital, but the child was fine.

Det Gda O’Connor said that Mr Jhuboo, who indicated on his boarding pass that he was a butler, told her that the group was staying in Ireland for three weeks.

He handed her a document from an organisation called Micro Data Information Academy for Excellence, based in Mauritius.

It stated that it was a letter of recommendation for 12 named candidates, the same 12 before her, who were on a "fact finding mission to Ireland in relation to the commerce, information technology and hospitality industry".

It said that provision had been made for their accommodation and "any incidental costs" for their stay in Ireland.

The letter also stated that the signatory had no hesitation in recommending the candidates for work permits.

Mr Jhuboo also handed in a faxed copy of a receipt from a Dublin hostel which indicated that 12 beds had been booked.

Det Gda O’Connor told Mr Ownes that she decided she was not allowing the group into the country and told them the reason for this was because she did not believe they were coming to Ireland for a holiday.

"I didn’t believe the letter from MDI and I don’t even think they knew what was on the letter," she said. She collected their passports which she later handed to a colleague.

Det Gda O’Connor told Ms Donnelly (with Mr Kerida Naidoo BL), that she was not aware that Mr Ilori was an Irish passport holder and that it was possible in that case that he changed from her queue because she was only dealing with non-EU passengers.

She agreed that there was no box on the landing card to indicate that it was a passenger’s intention to look around Ireland to determine the availability of work here.

Det Gda O’Connor said she was absolutely sure that the group told her it was their intention to stay in Ireland three weeks and that an entry in her Garda notebook, "three weeks??", was to remind herself that there was some problem with this because each of their landing cards indicated that they were staying for four weeks and the return ticket was valid for five months.

She said that Mr Jhuboo had no itinerary for his stay in Ireland but accepted that he told her another Mauritian national was waiting for them in the arrivals lounge with the details.

Mr Jhuboo then called this man and the phone was handed to Det Gda O’Connor but when she identified herself the caller hung up. He was called a second time but again hung up when the phone was passed to her.

She accepted she was told by these Mauritian nationals that it was their intention to look for suitable work in Ireland but she was only told this after she informed them that she was not going to allow them into the country.

Ms Donnelly then referred her to her statement and she accepted that she was incorrect and they told her this before she actually told them they did not have permission to enter the State but added that it was in her mind not to let them into Ireland before they admitted their true intentions.

Det Gda O’Connor said she was aware that Mr Jhuboo would not be a witness in the trial because he had not travelled over from Mauritius but said she did not know that the prosecution had invited him to give evidence.

She agreed that Mr Ilori wasn’t present during her conversation with Mr Jhuboo or the other Mauritian nationals.

She said she spoke to each of the group individually and they could all converse in English, though some had a better grasp of the language than others.

She accepted that their native language was French-based Creole and said that if they had required a translator they would have been provided with one.

The trial continues before Judge Martin Nolan and a jury of seven men and five women.