An Afghan boy who took part in the St Patrick's Cathedral sit-in by asylum seekers has been sent a letter by the Department of Justice threatening to deport him. He is anxious about his predicament, the High Court has been told.
The letter, which was issued last week to the boy - one of several Afghan minors involved in last month's protest who were made wards of court following the end of that protest - set out a proposal to deport him. However, the letter also stated that he had two weeks to apply to the Minister for Justice for leave to stay on humanitarian grounds.
When the cases of the minors came before him yesterday, the president of the High Court, Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan, was told that there were significant concerns in relation to the boy in question.
The judge said the matter should not cause anxiety and he repeated his order that none of the minors who had been made wards of the court could be removed from the jurisdiction. Mr Justice Finnegan also said that resources should be applied to assist the minor in relation to making his application to remain.
The Health Service Executive could inform the Department of Justice of the High Court order that the minors could not be removed from the jurisdiction, the judge added.
Felix McEnroy SC, for the HSE, said the minors who took part in the protest had gone through a traumatic time. However, they had enthusiastically embraced education and steps were being taken to give them vocational and recreational programmes.
Mr McEnroy said all the minors were deeply upset and embarrassed since the protest.
The court also heard that the guardians appointed to safeguard the rights of the minors were considering legal challenges in relation to some of the asylum files.
Mr Justice Finnegan adjourned the cases to July 10th.