Anti-racism advocate to raise large number of foreign-born missing children with Government

Dr Ebun Joseph is to cite research carried out last year by the Irish Examiner, which found that more than 130 children and young people who have disappeared across Ireland since 1977, remain missing. 

The still large numbers of migrant children remaining on Ireland’s missing persons lists are to be raised with the Government by the special rapporteur on racism.

Dr Ebun Joseph is to cite research carried out last year by the Irish Examiner, which found more than 130 children and young people who have disappeared across Ireland since 1977 remain missing. 

While they include the well-known names of Kyran Durnin from Louth, Philip Cairns from Dublin, Ciara Breen from Louth, and Mary Boyle from Donegal, the majority of the missing children are migrants and have not become household names.

The files include:

• Children from Nigeria, Somalia, Moldova, Georgia, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Belarus, Iran, Iraq, Morocco, Kenya and Romania — many who have not been seen since the first decade of this millennium;

• About 40 Chinese teenagers went missing between October 2006 and December 2009, mainly from addresses in Dublin. Some of those disappearances were on the same day — for example, three were last seen in Dublin city centre on January 1, 2009;

• 11 young people who went missing from accommodation on South Richmond Street, Dublin 2, between 2005 and 2009, and five who had been in accommodation on North Circular Road, Dublin 7, who disappeared on dates between 2005 and 2007;

• Four Kenyan girls who all went missing on the same day in July 2007 from accommodation on Lower Gardiner Street in Dublin;

• One 13-year-old who disappeared from Clare in 2019; 

• Two who went missing from the Red Cow Hotel in Dublin on the same date in October 2020.

The missing person reports stopped mentioning the nationality of the missing children in 2017.

As special rapporteur for racial equality and racism, Ebun Joseph has recently read the research and said she was “in shock” when looking at the faces of the missing children.

When looking at those pictures, I was in shock. This is unbelievable, and I don’t think the Government has done anything about it — to investigate it or do anything.

While acknowledging the reasons for the disappearances may vary, she said the figures were “too high” to just reflect children who decided to “run away”.

Ms Joseph is now planning to draw representatives from different ethnic groups and organisations to discuss how to examine the issue and is to seek data from Government departments as part of her approach.

“This has come onto my radar — I can’t let it just go. The numbers are huge, and we have not put up any kind of red alert about it. Even if we are not investigating, we have not put anything in place to mitigate against so that it cannot happen again.” 

Tusla does not have verified data from between 2006 and 2009 to confirm how many children were in the care system at the time that they were reported missing.

The agency previously told the Irish Examiner it had strong links with An Garda Síochána “around the risk of absconding of Separated Children Seeking International Protection (SCSIP), particularly Chinese young people."