A group of Indian men detained by gardaí after they arrived at Shannon Airport at the weekend without valid visas are expected to claim asylum today.
The 25 men arrived on Saturday on an Aeroflot flight from the Russian capital, Moscow, bound for Cuba. After the aircraft made a refuelling stop at Shannon, the men refused to continue on to Havana. They were denied "leave to land" by airport immigration officials and taken to Limerick Prison, where they remained last night as undocumented illegal migrants.
If the men claim asylum they will be allowed to remain in Ireland while their cases are processed, as the absence of entry visas does not affect their rights to seek to remain here permanently as refugees fleeing persecution.
However, if they do not seek refugee status they will be deported as irregular immigrants. People who claim refugee status are called asylum-seekers while their cases are being heard.
The head of the Garda National Immigration Bureau, Chief Supt Martin Donnellan, said last night he could not yet confirm if the men intended to apply for refugee status. They would be interviewed today by bureau members.
Members of a Limerick asylum-seeker organisation spoke with one of the men in prison yesterday. He said the group would claim asylum and told Sister Anne Scully from Dorus Luimní he was a member of the low caste Dalits, and had last night signed a statement claiming refugee status.
The man, the only one who speaks English, said he did not know the others. The men, believed to be in their 20s or 30s, are believed to be from various parts of India including the Punjab.