An autistic boy and his family were deported to Nigeria yesterday following a last minute effort to prevent their removal.
Olivia Agbonlahor and her six-year-old twins, Melissa and Great, who has autism, were deported to Lagos via London after reporting to the Garda National Immigration Bureau office in Dublin at noon.
The family was accompanied by three gardaí from the bureau Lagos, where they were handed over to Nigerian officials. Hotel accommodation was arranged for the family's first night.
The family had sought an judicial review of their case at the High Court, but Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan rejected their application.
The Agbonlahor family arrived in Ireland five years ago and had been living in Clonakilty, Co Cork, before being moved to Killarney, Co Kerry, in 2006.
Friends and supporters from Killarney, Clonakilty and Dublin, along with members of Residents Against Racism, had lobbied Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan to withdraw the deportation orders on compassionate grounds.
They claimed that Great would receive no treatment for his condition in Nigeria and would be an outcast. Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan had also lobbied his colleague in relation to the case.
The family's solicitor, Kevin Brophy, said they were extremely disappointed by the court's decision. He said Ms Agbonlahor had hoped the Minister would withdraw the orders on humanitarian grounds.
"I think it is an absolute outrage that in this day and age the Minister can decide that there aren't humanitarian grounds to allow an autistic child to remain in Ireland," Mr Brophy said.
He said the Government had taken "exceptional steps" to deport the family while the deportation of a number of other Nigerian nationals had been put back until September.
"The Government has decided that they need the Agbonlahor family and Great in particular out of the country so that he doesn't cause them any more embarrassment," he said.
"I feel embarrassed and ashamed of this Government for what they have done to this young family today."
Rosanna Flynn, spokeswoman for Residents Against Racism, said Ms Agbonlahor had fled Italy with her children after her husband had stood up to Nigerian drug dealers there and their lives were threatened.
"Ireland has sent them back to a country where children with autism are regarded as being possessed by devils, where he [ Great] will have no possible chance of having a decent life," she said. "Ireland should be ashamed of itself."
A Garda spokesman denied suggestions that the family was being treated differently from other Nigerian deportees. He said there were people deported from Ireland on an almost daily basis.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said the Minister had reviewed the files in the case and saw no basis for revoking the deportation orders.
According to Garda sources, the number of Nigerians deported annually has fluctuated in recent years. However, about 130 were deported on three specially chartered flights in 2005.
A substantial number who have had their asylum applications rejected disappear, with many leaving for other European countries, mostly the UK.