Russian refugees can stay till new year

A Russian woman and her daughter who were facing deportation have won a last-minute reprieve from the Minister for Justice allowing them to spend Christmas at their home in Ireland.

Mr O'Donoghue has agreed to defer deportation proceedings against Ms Olga Anisimova and her 10-year-old daughter Elena until the new year, when a decision will be made on her request to stay here on humanitarian grounds.

The Minister has also decided to delay deportation proceedings in 23 other cases which hinge on the outcome of the Anisimova case.

Ms Anisimova was ordered to leave the State earlier this month after the Supreme Court rejected her application to apply for asylum in Ireland. The court ruled she must make the application in the UK, because this was the first EU state through which she passed on her way from Russia.

In a letter received by Ms Anisimova's solicitor yesterday, Mr O'Donoghue said he would not be making any decision in the case until next January. A spokesman said the Minister did not want the spectre of deportation hanging over the family in the Christmas period.

His decision was welcomed last night by the Labour spokesman for justice, Mr Pat Upton, who called on Mr O'Donoghue not to proceed with the deportation at all.

Ms Anisimova and her daughter have lived in Ireland for almost two years. She says she suffered persecution as an ethnic national living in the newly-independent state of Moldova.

However, the authorities here have refused to consider her application for asylum on the basis of the "first safe country" rule.

Her case could set a precedent for hundreds of other immigration and asylum cases involving people who arrived here through another EU state.

Arising out of the uncertainty over the family's status in Ireland, Elena Anisimova has been absent from school in Dublin for more than three weeks. She celebrates her 11th birthday on Christmas Day.

The family now plan to spend Christmas in Dublin with friends.

Their solicitor has written to Mr O'Donoghue seeking written guarantees that their application for asylum will be heard in the UK if they are deported from Ireland.

During the Supreme Court hearing the Department said the British authorities had agreed to process their application, but Ms Anisimova has not been given any confirmation of this.

Meanwhile the Government has decided to set up an inter-departmental working group to consider all aspects of the refugee issue. The group, which is to report back early in the new year, comprises representatives from the Attorney General's office and the Departments of Environment, Social Welfare, Finance, Foreign Affairs and Justice.

One of the options that will be considered by the group is a possible amnesty for the 4,000 asylumseekers currently in the State, a Department of Justice spokesman confirmed last night.