Hundreds of Nigerians waited for hours outside the Nigerian embassy in Dublin yesterday in connection with passport applications. There was still a queue outside the embassy late last night.
There has been an unprecedented demand for replacement passports among the Nigerian community since the announcement in January by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell of new residency arrangements for the non-EU parents of children born here before January 1st.
Parents may apply for residency on the basis of having an Irish-born child. Among the items they must submit with their application is a passport or a national identity card.
Nigerians from all over the State began arriving at 6am yesterday to pick up a passport or be interviewed for one. An official outside the closed gates of the embassy on Leeson Park handed out numbers to people and a few were let through at a time.
People in the queue said they had all been called to the embassy on the same day.
Samuel Johnson who lives in Dublin said he had been charged €410 for a passport.
"We have to do this every time. We come up for interview, registration, come back to pay, then when we come for our passport, we have to collect a ticket and wait," he said.
He said he had been there since 6am. "Nobody comes out to talk to us. We don't know how long we have to wait. Some are here for collections, others are being interviewed in an open garage inside the gates, children are not let in, and the only toilets are inside and are filthy," he said.
Ademona Adedoye who had also been charged €410 said: "This is the way we were always treated in Nigeria."
Precious Imiewanlan said she had come from Galway and arrived at about 6am. "Our ambassador should be ashamed. We were treated like this back home. Now you can see," she said.
Sylvester Ikbotokin and his wife, Pauline, had travelled from Roscommon with their one-year-old daughter. They also paid the same sum. Last time they had to wait seven hours.
A mother from Cork said that it had been snowing when she had come previously for an interview. She had waited from 6am and did not get home until 11pm.
Aisling Reidy of the Coalition Against the Deportation of Irish Children said the charges were more than the Nigerian High Commission in London charged. The fees there were £54 for a passport and £166 for a replacement.