TWO UNACCOMPANIED minors who may have been brought to Ireland by human traffickers were remanded in custody in separate cases at the Dublin Children’s Court yesterday, pending a Garda inquiry into their backgrounds.
The boys, from Vietnam and Moldova, are in Ireland without their parents or credible identity documents. They face being held in custody in St Patrick’s Institution on criminal charges.
Judge Patrick McMahon said his concern was for their safety and in particular over a possible link to human trafficking. He further remanded them in custody to St Patrick’s Institution pending continued Garda inquiries. “There is a worry about trafficking being involved, that is the biggest concern,” he said.
It is believed that Boy A, from Vietnam, and believed to be aged 16, left his home country with his parents in early childhood, and travelled to Russia and several other European states before arriving in Ireland after “money changed hands” with an “agent”.
The court has heard that his silence over how he came to be in Ireland was a result of being in fear and it is believed he was “trafficked into the country”.
He had been remanded in custody earlier this month following his arrest for burglary at a residence on Galtymore Road, in Drimnagh, Dublin, on June 2nd, and having failed to produce identity documents within seven days of arriving in the State, under the Immigration Act.
Interpol was contacted to find out whether he is on its missing children’s list, but that inquiry “turned up blank”, Judge McMahon was told yesterday.
Garda Darren Coller said the boy’s fingerprints are to be taken and samples are to be sent to the Vietnamese embassy in London to see whether it can assist.
A team leader from the Health Service Executive’s unaccompanied minors section told the court that accommodation could be provided to the teenager, but the care placement would not be secure and could not guarantee his safety or prevent him from leaving.
The court also heard yesterday that over the last week, Garda Coller’s station has been receiving suspicious phone calls from people inquiring about the boy.
He said that given the concerns that human trafficking could be involved, he would fear for the teenager’s safety if given bail.
“He says he was brought in by an agent I am concerned may be using him for other purposes. I have a fear that if he does get out, harm will come to him.”
Boy B, the Moldovan, also thought to be aged 16 and bilingual in Romanian and Russian, came to Ireland via Kerry Airport with a forged Israeli passport and gave gardaí fictitious addresses in Dublin. An identity card allegedly belonging to him was sent to court by a man who will only answer phone calls from specific numbers which he recognises.
The boy’s parents are still in Moldova, while the boy has been in Ireland for approximately 13 months. He is also being held on remand in St Patrick’s Institution. The case stems from his arrest for theft of a wallet from a shop in the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, Dublin, earlier this month.
He has also been charged under the Immigration Act with failing to produce identity documents.
Defence counsel Mary O’Sullivan said the HSE was willing to take him into care.
As in the case of the Vietnamese boy, Judge McMahon said this placement would not be secure.