TWO Moroccan soldiers who arrived in Cork as stowaways on a cattle ship were afraid that they could face torture or even execution for desertion if they returned, the High Court was told yesterday.
Mr Justice Keane gave them leave to challenge notices refusing them permission to stay here and ordering them to leave the State. They are also challenging their detention here.
Mr James Connolly SC, for the two men, said they were in Mountjoy jail training unit.
Mr Patrick Spillane, solicitor, said in an affidavit that they arrived as stowaways on the cattle ship Siba Edola.
He believed they volunteered for service in the Royal Moroccan Army in 1993. They informed him that because of ill treatment and abuse they deserted last December and fled to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.
They boarded the ship there for Cork. On arrival in Cork they told an immigration officer that they had asked the Garda for asylum and the services of a lawyer. They were served with notices of refusal to land.
On January 6th, two interpreters came to the ship and told them the services of a solicitor had been obtained. They gave them letters of application for refugee status.
On that date, the men landed on Irish soil for the purpose of applying for refugee status. They contacted the Garda on January 8th and were taken into custody.
Mr Spillane said he faxed a request for refugee status to the Department of Justice but was informed that the two men would be deported as soon as weather conditions permitted the Siba Edola to leave. He had no alternative but to seek an order restraining their deportation.