Boy, 7, left behind as family deported
A seven-year-old boy has been left behind in Ireland after his parents and four-year-old brother were deported to Romania, it emerged today.
The family, who are Roma gypsies, were among a group of more than 50 asylum seekers who were arrested and flown from Dublin Airport to Romania last night.
A garda spokeswoman confirmed 37 men, 10 women and eight children had been flown out of Dublin yesterday and that a child had been left in Tralee, Co Kerry, while his family were deported.
She said the child was taken from school by relatives with whom he is now staying.
The spokeswoman said the incident had been reported to the Health Board and the matter was now in their hands.
Rosanna Flynn, spokeswoman for Residents Against Racism, said the family had been in the country for three years.
Ms Flynn said Garda National Bureau of Immigration (GNBI) had gone into the boy’s school looking for him, but he was with a relative, so they took his parents without him.
She said Education Minister Mary Hanafin had already called for an end to incidents of the GNBI going into schools and said questions would be asked in the Dail over the issue.
Ms Flynn added the boy’s mother had been very upset at Dublin Airport.
“We’re calling again for asylum to be taken out of the hands of politicians and given to a body such as a human rights commission, because it’s a human rights issue,” she said.
Ms Flynn also said the anti-racism group was demanding greater transparency in asylum process which she said was currently “done so secretly”.
“Why are we spending money to deport people to Romania, when in two years’ time it will be part of the EU?” she added.
Romania is one of five countries with which a new accelerated process is in place to deal with asylum applications.
