Families launch GoFundMe to repatriate Yves Sakila's body to Democratic Republic of Congo

Yves Sakila had lived in Ireland from the age of 13, after he was taken to Ireland in a family reunification programme by his uncle. Photo: Facebook

A GoFundMe has been launched to help pay for the cost of repatriating Yves Sakila’s remains home to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The 35-year-old died after he was arrested for alleged shoplifting at Arnott’s Department Store in Dublin on May 15.

He had been restrained by security men before being detained after he tried to steal a bottle of perfume, with the incident filmed by passersby.

He then fell ill and was taken to the Mater Hospital, where he died that day. His stepmother Angel Issemezey Anzibi formally identified his body on May 16.

Since then, his body has remained at the city morgue in Whitehall in north Dublin, where two post mortems have taken place.

His biological mother, Janet Sakila, told the Irish Examiner she would like to spend time with her son before he is buried, and both families have agreed to repatriate Yves’s body home to the Congo.

The GoFundMe has a target of €10,000. Mr Sakila’s body has officially been released to his family by the coroner.

“The body is going to go home," the family’s advocate and chairperson of the Africa Solidarity Centre Ireland, Lassane Ouedraogo, said. “We are making a call for some funds to try and help the body travel home via repatriation to the Congo.

“We are hoping to get some support with this. We have nearly finished finalising the paperwork to return Yves home to his mother, but we also need the funds."

Mr Sakila, a Congolese national, had lived in Ireland from the age of 13, after he was taken to Ireland in a family reunification programme by his uncle, following the death of his father Nobert Longo Sakila.

His uncle married here and had four children. However the marriage broke down, and he left Ireland, leaving Yves with his stepmother Angel.

“He went off the rails and was taken into foster care,” Angel told the Irish Examiner. “But he always remained close to us. He turned to drugs and was in the homeless community. If he was stealing, then he should have been handed over to the gardaí.

“The way he died is not acceptable and it has broken our hearts."

The GoFundMe page said: “Yves has been denied dignity in death in so many ways, and his loved ones have been denied the opportunity to mourn.

“Please donate to help repatriate Yves’ body to the Democratic Republic of Congo so that he may finally be laid to rest and so his loved ones can begin to heal.

“Any excess funds will go to the Justice for Yves Sakila campaign, which aims to make sure there is a fair investigation into the circumstances of Yves’ death.”