The Human Rights Commission is "seriously concerned" about the issuing of letters since July to up to 1,100 non-EU parents of Irish-born children telling them of plans to deport them.
In a position paper sent to the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, the commission says the threat of deportation is putting such parents in an "intolerable" situation and that it is concerned at the lack of readily accessible legal advice to them. Mr Maurice Manning is president of the Human Rights Commission.
The move by the Department of Justice to send the letters comes on foot of the Supreme Court judgment in January that non-EU immigrants could no longer seek residency here on the basis of having an Irish-born child. Recipients are being given "only 15 days" to make representations as to as to why they should not be deported and are being offered no legal guidance preparing their submissions.
"Because of the widespread confusion and alarm among people in this situation, made worse in many cases by language difficulties, the 15-day time limit for making representations to the Minister should be extended and provision should be made for free legal assistance and advice to people faced with possible deportation," the commission says.
It further calls on the Minister to "reconsider" the threat of deportation against non-nationals who applied for residency before the Supreme Court decision.
"When these people made their original applications, it was generally accepted that they would be entitled to remain and many were so advised" by the State and lawyers. The Commission urges the Minister to allow this category - "a limited and now closed category of persons" - to remain.
Stressing the fact that the Supreme Court decision in January was concerned with the position of the immigrant parents involved in two cases and not of their Irish children, the commission says policy in the area must not ignore the duty of care the State has to its citizens.
Decisions on whether to grant parents leave to remain "should not expose Irish citizen children to any significant risk of treatment" contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights. Included would be torture, inhuman or degrading treatment such as female genital mutilation, forced marriage or child labour.
The letters are putting parents "in the intolerable position of having to decide whether to leave their child behind them in Ireland for its own safety and physical welfare or to take the child and preserve the family unit".
