Eric Zhi Ying Xue faces 'no imminent threat of deportation', says Simon Harris
Health minister Simon Harris has said that Bray schoolboy Eric Zhi Ying Xue faces "no imminent threat of deportation".
The nine-year-old is a fourth class student in St Cronan's school in Bray and, although born in Ireland, he is not a citizen. He had been facing deportation.
Eric's mother arrived in Ireland 12 years ago but was served a deportation order in 2015. Despite appealing the decision on numerous occasions, her final appeal was rejected in June.
However, speaking on The Last Word on Today FM, health minister Simon Harris said he had some "good news" for the family.
“I’ve just got some good news, very recently from the Department of Justice, which I’ve conveyed to Eric’s family, that there is no imminent threat of deportation. That’s all I ever called for, that’s all Eric’s family ever asked for, was an opportunity for a humanitarian review of the case to take place”
“The idea that a nine-year-old boy who is as much from Wicklow as I am, as much from Ireland as I am would be told that he is 'going back' to China, a country he had never been to was simply ludicrous," he said.
