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Appeal for support of non-national parents and their Irish citizen children
01 November 2003
"On 23rd January 2003, the majority of the Supreme Court of Ireland upheld the right of the Minister for Justice to deport in certain circumstances non-nationals from Ireland even if they were parents of Irish children. However the Court also confirmed that all children born in Ireland are equal Irish citizens irrespective of the nationality or status of their parents. All citizen children have a right of residency in Ireland and cannot be deported.
The Court also said that if the Minister wishes to deport non-national parents of Irish citizen children then he must carry out a detailed and individual examination of the circumstances of each case and establish that grave and substantial reasons in the interest of the common good exist, to interfere with the constitutional rights of the child's right to the company and care of their parents.
It would appear however, that since 23rd January the only part of the Supreme Court's judgement that the Minister wishes to have regard to is his power to deport non-national parents, as he persistently and determinedly refuses to abide by the other rulings of the Court.
Since July 2003, the Minister has been sending out letters to non-national parents of Irish children advising them that he intends to deport them.
The Irish Human Rights Commission has made its views known, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties have written to the Minister on many ocassions, Mary Robinson has endorsed the campaign and now we are collecting as many signatories as possible to a letter to be sent to the Minister calling on him to respect the rights of all Irish children equally and to put in place a fair policy."
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Individuals who wish to sign the letter should send their name and pledge to the letter to: cadic@ericom.net
Organisations that are signing up should let us know at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties: iccl@iol.ie
CADIC (Coalition Against the Deportation of Irish Children), chaired by Ronit Lentin, Department of Sociology, TCD includes Amnesty Ireland (Irish Section), Akina Dada Wa Africa , the Children's Rights Alliance, Conference of Religious Of Ireland, the Free Legal Advice Centres, the Immigrant Council of Ireland, Integrating Ireland, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the Irish Refugee Council, the Jesuit Refugee Service, the Refugee Project of the Catholic Bishops, Refugee Information Service, Residents Against Racism, National Women's Council of Ireland and the Vincentian Refugee Centre
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1. Letter of support, 20 November 2003:
Word file pdf file
2. Letter 6 November 2003:
Word file pdf file
3. Report from Irish Human Rights Commission: Position of non-national parents and their Irish-born children:
Word file pdf file
4. National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism:
Word file pdf file
5. Briefing on 23 January 2003:
Word file pdf file
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