Immigrant victims of state officials
There was the case of a multiple rape victim who, until her removal from the state earlier this month, was a client of the Rape Crisis Centre (RCC) in Co Mayo which had, exceptionally, written directly to the Minister indicating a belief that the woman was "unable to travel even to England due to health and psychological problems."
Despite this the woman was forced, without having first had the opportunity to contact her RCC counsellor and with less than an hour to prepare her young children for the unplanned trip, to undertake a lengthy overnight drive to Dublin with strangers before being taken off to the UK with great haste next morning.
I also note that the Justice Department's one-sentence acknowledgement of the June letter from the RCC was received after the woman had already been taken from her Co Mayo base.
Other recent cases included one where infant twins were taken, without a full change of clothes, as 'social admissions' to a Dublin hospital and held there for a period of days while their mother was being held in prison apparently in the expectation that she would be deported.
After a court challenge by the woman's legal team, it is now accepted that the woman was wrongfully arrested and she has been reunited with her children.
In this, and in one other recent case that we know of, children of parents wanted for deportation have been taken away in a garda car from their homes unaccompanied by any adult family members. Also, on a number of occasions as many as six gardaí have been involved in post-dawn swoops, some knocking on the wrong apartment doors and causing unnecessary fear in immigrant communities.
The media, meanwhile, recently highlighted the fact that earlier this year some people who were deported illegally have since had to be facilitated to return to Ireland.
Mr McDowell has been vigorous in his pursuit of alleged abuse by immigrants. In the interest of justice, I would appeal to him urgently and with equal vigour to pursue abusive treatment suffered by immigrants at the hands of state officials. Some years prior to taking on his current ministerial role, Mr McDowell referred to the "indignity and contempt with which the Irish state was treating" particular groups of asylum-seekers and he mentioned that "black and coloured people are treated differently by our immigration service."
Given the lack of any independent monitoring of the work of immigration officials Ireland has in the recent past returned, unspent, funds granted by the European commission for one such element and given the fact that the minister has not set up the long-promised refugee advisory board, it is imperative that he ensures high standards by all officials dealing with immigrants.
I would also ask him to ensure that officials dealing with, for example, traumatised women and vulnerable children have the necessary training to ensure full conformity with legislation and international best practice.
Whether or not they are citizens of the country, are those who live here, either temporarily or long-term, not entitled to be treated with a minimum level of dignity a level which, on the basis of my recent experience, has not been reached in a number of instances?
Peter O'Mahony
Chief Executive
Irish Refugee Council
88 Capel Street
Dublin 1
