THE HIGH Court has quashed a deportation order against a 19-year-old Nigerian girl who was “dumped” in Ireland by her father four years ago, along with two younger brothers.
Ms Justice Maureen Harding Clark yesterday gave an order quashing the Minister’s decision to deport the girl after she failed to be granted refugee status, stressing that there were very unusual circumstances in the case.
The applicant and her two half-brothers had been brought to Ireland by their father in 2005.
She was then aged 15 and her brothers were aged 13 and seven. Their father told them to apply for asylum. The two boys were put into the care of a foster mother, through the Health Service Executive (HSE), while the girl was placed in a hostel.
In January 2006 the girl applied unsuccessfully for asylum. She then applied for humanitarian leave to remain in Ireland, which was also refused, and eventually a deportation order was made against her.
Her counsel argued that the Minister had not taken the family rights of the two boys, who depended emotionally on their sister, into account in making his decision to deport her, and that he was required to consider their family rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Counsel for the Minister had argued that he had considered the family rights of the applicant, but had found they did not outweigh other considerations.
During the hearing Ms Justice Harding Clark asked Emily Farrell, for the Minister, if the Minister had received updating information asking that the whole family be dealt with together, and Ms Farrell said no.
“Effectively, the father brought them to Ireland and left them here,” Ms Farrell said.
“In her initial asylum application, the applicant said clearly their father thought they would get a better education here and that is why they were brought to Ireland.”
Rosario Boyle SC, for the applicant, had told the court that the Minister should have taken account of the family unit as a whole.
She said the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child also stressed the importance of continuity in a child’s upbringing, and that siblings should be kept together as far as possible.
Ms Justice Harding Clark said yesterday that the deportation order was not valid because the whole family had not been considered.
The facts of the case were so particular that this would not have implications for other cases, she said.
“These children are in fact orphans here,” she said.
Her reasons for her decision will be delivered later.