More than 80 Nigerian citizens protested outside their country's embassy in Dublin yesterday against charges of €400 to obtain a passport.
They are parents of Irish-born children seeking passports in order to apply for residency. Under revised arrangements non-national parents of children born in Ireland before January 1st can apply for residency. However, an applications deadline of March 31st has been set by the Department of Justice.
Many of the protesters claimed they had paid the fee, but had not received passports. Others said they could not afford €400 for a passport, which, it is understood, can be obtained through the Nigerian embassy in London for £50.
"Many people have paid and were told to come to collect their passport last Saturday, but the embassy was closed. On another day [ they] were told the machine that produces the passport was broken," one Nigerian man said.
A spokeswoman for the Irish Council for Civil Liberties said it had requested an urgent meeting with the embassy but had received no response.
The Department of Justice said it had no jurisdiction over what the Nigerian embassy charged for passports. However, a spokeswoman said the department would accept pre-existing passports, even if they were out of date. The embassy staff were not available for comment.
