Southside elected reps criticise “cruel” deportation of school children to Nigeria

The Department of Justice announced on Thursday that 35 people were deported to Nigeria.

In a statement released on Thursday morning, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan said, “operations of this nature send a clear message that there are consequences for people who remain in our country without permission and underscores this government’s intention to protect the integrity of our immigration system.”

Since coming into office in January, the government has taken a harder line on immigration. 

People Before Profit councillor Hazel De Nortúin said that five local children from Dublin 8 were among those deported to Nigeria.

“They were seized and deported without an opportunity to say goodbye to their friends or people in the Dublin 8 community that they had been a part of for several years.

“Two of the children had been pupils at St James Primary school in the Liberties for three years; they were not even given the opportunity to say goodbye to their friends”.

The Southside councillor said “other families at the IPAS centre witnessed the seizure of the children and their families. Children in the centre now live in fear that they will be next to be seized without warning and deported without even a chance to say goodbye to their friends”.

She said “the worst of the nastiness represented by Trump and the far-right is now being imported here by Minister Jim O’Callaghan and the government, instead of investing in communities that this government and successive governments have abandoned for so long. It is sickening and I will stand with the community in Dublin 8 in opposing this inhuman deportation policy”.”

People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said “What we are witnessing is the Minister for Justice engaging in performative cruelty to boost his Fianna Fáil leadership bid. One of the most powerful people in the state kicking down at the most vulnerable and boasting about it publicly because he wants even more power”.

“It is disgusting and I will raise this matter in the Dáil when it reconvenes on Tuesday to demand an end to this performative cruelty against children and their families and instead for badly needed investment in local communities and services”.

Local Social Democrats TD Jen Cummins said the operation was “cruel and lacking in humanity.”

“There needs to be immediate accountability from the Department of Justice over how this was handled,” she said.

“This was not simply the conclusion of a legal process – it was the abrupt uprooting of young lives. Some of these children had lived in Ireland for three years – they were in school, part of communities, and had formed friendships. They were removed without being afforded the time, dignity or emotional space to say goodbye to their classmates or teachers.”

“Deporting children who have lived here for several years – and may have no real memories or connection to the country they originally came from – is deeply problematic. Pulling them from their lives with no warning can result in real emotional harm for them, and for their classmates and friends,” the Dublin South Central TD said.

“Children should not be punished for the state’s failure to operate an effective, efficient and compassionate immigration system, where decisions on asylum applications routinely take many years.”

“This deportation has not just impacted the children involved, but also the wider school community in St James’s Primary School in Dublin 8, where two of them attended. The Department’s inconsiderate handling of this operation has resulted in a palpable sense of grief and distress within the school.”

Cummins, the party spokesperson on education, said “the government must take responsibility for the way this deportation was executed and confirm if any child protection or welfare professionals were consulted in advance. I will be asking the Minister for Justice if welfare assessments were made prior to the removal of these children.”

“I am now calling for a full review of how deportations involving families and children are managed. We cannot call ourselves a modern, compassionate country and allow things like this to happen.”