Man Deported Because Of Garda Brutality Cover up
ireland / britain |
migration / racism |
news report
Wednesday August 10, 2005 17:41 by Dermot Sreenan & James O'Brien - WSM
In the early hours of May 19th Michael Alabi was deported by the Irish State. Michael was resident of a hostel in Lower Gardiner street and was part of a group of Nigerian men who decided to go on hunger strike to protest against the department of Justice's draconian immigration policies.
Man Deported Because Of Garda Brutality Cover up
In the early hours of May 19th Michael Alabi was deported by the
Irish State. Michael was resident of a hostel in Lower Gardiner
street and was part of a group of Nigerian men who decided to go on
hunger strike to protest against the department of Justice's
draconian immigration policies.
Michael and others were instructed by officers from the Garda
National Immigration Bureau (GNIB)to sign on twice daily in their
hostel, leaving them under virtual house arrest. The action taken by
the GNIB prevented the men from visiting their wives and children.
The asylum seekers bravely persevered in their fight to gain
rights that had unjustly been taken away from them. Michael was one
of the last to come off hunger strike and due to the pressure the
GNIB eventually granted their request to sign on once a day.
But because of the increasingly racist attitudes within the
immigration system their success was short-lived. On the 18th Michael
was, as usual, signing on with Guards from the GNIB. His friends
noticed Guards taken him into an empty room and heard loud screams
coming from inside the door. When Michael reappeared his face and
hands were covered in blood. He was then taken to Clover Hill prison
for deportation.
When Residents Against Racism (RAR) heard of the incident they
contacted Clover Hill prison to confirm he was there and get a
visitation order. At 4.30am, however, Michael was deported on a
scheduled flight back to Nigeria. The Justice Department and Garda
immigration officers are obviously cooperating in this vicious
assault on Michael. When RAR contacted Refugee Legal Services they
confirmed Michael's appeal for asylum had not been refused and that
it was an illegal deportation and insisted he be returned.
It's not the first and won't be the last time this will occur.
Just days after McDowell's racist outburst of claiming all asylum
seekers are bogus, Michael Alabi was illegally deported by McDowell
and his hench-men in this blatant cover up. Asylum seekers flee from
persecution to seek protection from the Irish state not to be
brutally attacked by it.
From Workers Solidarity 87 - July 2005
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