Cork family divided as rejected asylum seekers arrested during immigration check-in

Arrests during routine immigration sign-ons spark concern over family separations and treatment of children and medically vulnerable people

Madeleine Breetzke, her brother, Daniel, and their mother Antonette in Dublin yesterday. Picture: Sam Boal/Collins

Almost 40 asylum seekers were arrested on Thursday and some families were separated as they went to sign on to notify the State of their whereabouts at the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB).

Those detained have previously been turned down for asylum and were held as the Government cracks down on those who are here illegally.