Close to 40 individuals have been detained and several families split up after gardaí carried out what was described as a “day of action”, reports Breaking News.
On Thursday morning, 38 men, women and children — some as young as 13 — were arrested while attending appointments to sign on and notify the State of their whereabouts at the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB), reports Breaking News.
It is understood that some of the men have since been transferred to Cloverhill Prison, while a number of women are being held at the Dóchas women’s prison.
Angelia Russell, a South African activist, told BreakingNews.ie that members of her family and circle of friends were among those detained, reports Breaking News.
“It started with my two best friends. They went into the GNRB, just to go and present themselves. Just a routine signing to say that they’re not going to run away from their deportation order. I hadn’t spoken to them since 25 past 10 in the morning and it should only take around 15 minutes when they go inside. At around half 11 I realised that, okay, something had happened to them,” reports Breaking News.
Ms Russell said her husband’s relatives were later taken into custody as well. She explained that her 13-year-old cousin and his 23-year-old brother witnessed their father being arrested and subsequently detained. According to her, the father suffers from “chronic high blood pressure”, and the younger boy’s already fragile mental health has worsened as a result of the ordeal, reports Breaking News.
“They’ve denied them medication, they’ve denied them contact with the family,” she said, reports Breaking News.
She stated that the father and the 23-year-old brother remain in detention, while the mother, a 25-year-old daughter and the young boy have been moved to the Travel Lodge near Dublin Airport to await deportation.
Ms Russell also recounted how an 80-year-old woman who “can’t even walk” attended the GNIB to register, while her son waited outside, and she “never came back out”, reports Breaking News.
She added that “word was going around” that a deportation flight had been arranged for three days later, on February 16th.
Gardaí confirmed that 23 men and 15 women were arrested “in advance of planned national return operations”, reports Breaking News.
“An Garda Síochána continues to work closely with the Department of Justice in implementing immigration policy”, a spokesperson said, reports Breaking News.
“No additional information is available at this time,” reports Breaking News.
The Department of Justice said: “This is an operational matter for An Garda Síochána,” reports Breaking News.
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