"Let Us Stay, Let Us Work"

national | racism & migration related issues | news report Tuesday April 19, 2005 22:04 by veeg

Nigerian hunger-strikers protest at Dáil

More than 60 Nigerian hunger-strikers took their protest to the Dáil today, supported by Residents Against Racism.

The demonstration followed last Wednesday’s distribution of official letters to asylum-seekers housed at two city-centre hostels requiring them to sign on there twice daily – at 10am and 5pm. This condition, which is being enforced by officials from the Garda National Immigration Bureau, was today condemned by RAR’s Rosanna Flynn as imposing ‘virtual house arrest’. She explained that many of those affected are fathers of Irish-born children whose families have been dispersed to other towns and cities; the new requirements make it impossible for them to maintain contact.

Those refusing food expressed a fear that these latest moves are a pre-cursor to another mass deportation and emphasised that they simply want to be allowed to work and contribute to Irish society, something they are barred from doing under current regulations.

The protest received messages of support from TDs representing Sinn Fein, Labour, the Socialist Party and the Greens. Addressing the crowd, Joe Costello announced that he was due to see the Minister For Justice during the afternoon and would be raising concerns over both the content of the letters and the patently confused operation of the immigration and asylum system which recent developments highlight.

In an impromptu move, the hunger-strikers then continued their lively protest with a march on to the Ministry of Justice.

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Residents Against Racism announced that it will be undertaking work to highlight ongoing gross human rights abuses in Nigeria, condemning the present government policy of regarding the Central African state as a ‘safe’ country when assessing asylum claims.