'It's sad to think circumcision is not regarded as torture'

PAMELA IZEVBEKHAI’S two daughters sat on a bench looking at books as her mother was told by her legal team that she had lost her latest challenge to their deportation.

Heavy traffic meant that she had missed the brief High Court hearing which rejected her challenge to the State’s refusal to grant the family subsidiary protection here.

As she talked to her legal team, one of her daughters turned to the Irish Refugee Council’s Róisín Boyd. “Is this the final court?” she asked.

The children have been to court more times than most adults at this stage and the news is usually not good.

Ms Boyd asked the girl if she was worried. “Yeah, I am really worried,” she said.

But she was reassured that it was not the final court and, after reading the 22-page judgment, her mother decided with her legal team that she would appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. Ms Izevbekhai looked weary when she left the Four Courts with her solicitor Gabriel Toolan but she said the defeat was not a shock.

“I’m not surprised, you know,” she said.

“It’s a very sad thing to think that circumcision is not regarded by this judge as torture. It’s very, very sad.”

Asked if she still hoped for a positive outcome, she said the European Court of Human Rights had helped her case by asking for a stay on the deportation until the case was examined.

“So I’m hopeful that things will go our way.”

Last November, the European Court of Human Rights requested the Irish Government not to deport Ms Izevbekhai and her children because it said it wanted to consider her arguments.

However, if it rejects her case, she may be deported while awaiting the Supreme Court hearing.

Members of her support group, Let Them Stay, attended court yesterday and afterwards a spokesman said the group did not understand the logic of Mr Justice Brian McGovern’s ruling in rejecting her application.

“But it’s not the end of the road,” he said. “Far from it.”

The Irish Refugee Council was also looking forward when it called on Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern to intervene.

It was joined in its call by Amnesty International and the Children’s Rights Alliance.

Ms Boyd said it must not be forgotten that the case was about two little girls who were looking for protection.

If they returned to Nigeria, they faced the threat of female genital mutilation (FGM) which the UN had likened to torture.

“So are we going to send two little girls back to Nigeria who are at risk of torture? I don’t think most Irish people would want us to do that,” Ms Boyd said.

“We are really, really worried about Pamela and about the girls but we are hoping that the Minister will still change his mind.

“It’s in his power to do that,” Ms Boyd added.

Amnesty International’s Ireland section criticised yesterday’s ruling and claimed Ms Izevbekhai had been denied a fair hearing.

Its director Colm O’Gorman said the court’s refusal to undertake a substantial review of the merits of the case, or to take into account new information, was deeply regrettable.

The Children’s Rights Alliance said the deportation of the Izevbekhai family would raise serious concerns about the Government’s commitment to children and would be contrary to its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Its chief executive Jillian Van Turnhout said the case highlighted the lack of explicit legal protection against FGM in Ireland.

“FGM is not a problem in some faraway land that the Government could ignore. Turning a blind eye to what is likely to befall these poor girls is unforgivable,” Ms Van Turnhout said.