A pregnant Roma woman was rushed to hospital yesterday after she and her family were threatened with deportation.
The woman, who is 34 weeks pregnant, was rushed to the University College Hospital, Galway (UCHG), while her husband presented himself to garda∅ at Clifden station, rather than face arrest at midnight.
Amid distressing scenes, there were fears the family would be split, as the eldest son (11) was on a day's outing with his class and could not be contacted. While their father was held at the Garda station, attempts were made to comfort the couple's other two children, aged five and three.
The woman's husband was later allowed to return to the hostel where the family have lived for the past eight months.
The Garda Press Office said last night the family was appealing the removal order under Section 5 of the Illegal Immigrant Trafficking Act, 2001. The woman had not given birth up to late last night. But if she does give birth in the State, it would entitle the family to apply for residency.
The Irish Refugee Council and the Clifden Refugee Support Group have condemned the manner in which the order was implemented.
Dr Sophie Faherty, chair of the refugee support group, said the woman had been given a detailed medical certificate earlier this week by a local doctor, stating she was unfit to travel.
The family had been living in the Dun Gibbons hostel in Clifden. "In spite of that, she was threatened with removal, and everybody in this community is very shocked and hurt," she said.
The support group has worked with 75 asylum-seekers living in the hostel, and another 20 who have settled in private rented accommodation in the town. Two Roma families are among the 20 who are attempting to integrate with the local community in Connemara.
Fellow members of the Roma community were also distressed at the hostel yesterday morning, according to Dr Faherty, who attended the woman when she started having contractions. The family, from the Czech Republic, is facing deportation under the Dublin Convention.
The convention was introduced in 12 European states in 1997, and is designed to prevent asylum-seekers from travelling from one country to another when their original application for asylum within the EU has not been approved.
Asylum-seekers are obliged to make the application in the first EU state in which they arrive. An order for return to that first state can be made by the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner.
Mr Dug Cubie, legal officer with the Irish Refugee Council, said the council accepted some deportations and removals might have to occur, if asylum-seekers had been through a fair and effective procedure in this State. "However, even if an order is issued, the right to human dignity has to be respected," he said.
A Department of Justice Equality and Law Reform spokesperson said the Department did not comment on individual cases.