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A man deported from the state claims he has been forced to live in an African airport terminal since March after he was allegedly abandoned by gardaí who would allegedly return him to his native country, the High Court has heard.
The failed asylum seeker, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, says he has been living there for the past six months, where he has survived thanks to the charity of other passengers and what he can find in the containers.
When the man’s case came before Judge Charles Meenan this week, John Gallagher BL, the minister’s representative, said his side questions the man’s version of events and that the minister’s response to the man’s claims was “very strong. “.
Michael Lynn SC, with Sean Rafter BL, instructed by lawyer David Harrington, for the man, said that he was initially transferred from Ireland to Belgium in the company of a gardaí who supervised his deportation to his home.
From Belgium, Gardaí accompanied him on a flight to Ethiopia, from where he was to take a flight to his home country in southern Africa.
He claims that while he was waiting for that flight, the gardaí gave him a boarding pass in the departure lounge of the airport.
He claims that the gardaí who withheld his passport then went to find a hotel outside the airport to rest and told him that they would return.
He claims that he never saw the Gardaí again, that he could not board the flight to his home country because he did not have a passport and cannot get home.
He claims that two hours after the flight’s departure, the airport staff provided him with his passport.
He claims that he was left in the terminal without money, telephone or luggage and that he cannot leave the airport because he cannot buy the necessary visa to enter Ethiopia.
Sleeping in the open
He claims that he has been sleeping rough at the airport, that he lives off food scraps and everything he can find by rummaging through containers and relying on the charity of passing strangers.
After a week, his passport was stolen, he says. A few weeks ago, he contacted an Irish-based NGO and its lawyers using fixed computers located at the airport.
His lawyer Phelim O’Neill wrote to the minister asking that the man be rescued from the “inhuman and degrading” treatment to which he has been exposed by the alleged actions of the gardaí.
The High Court was informed that the man has not been able to advance the case as his correspondence has not been responded to.
Mr. O’Neill claims this is because the Minister requires the man to provide a letter signed by him giving Mr. O’Neill the authority to act on his behalf.
In an affidavit, O’Neill says this is illegal and violates fundamental human rights.
You cannot provide a signed letter because you are on the air side of immigration control at the airport and do not have access to postal facilities, the lawyer said.
As a result, the man has initiated a judicial review process for an order overturning the Minister’s decision requiring the lawyer to provide a signed authorization from the man and ordering the Minister to respond to correspondence from the man’s lawyers.
When the case was briefly brought up before Judge Meenan on Monday, Lynn asked that the session be adjourned to allow the man’s legal team to consider the minister’s response to the action. The matter will return to court later this month.
