Ciarán Cuffe TD GREEN PARTY Dún Laoghaire
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Ciarán Cuffe TD GREEN PARTY Dún Laoghaire
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PRESS RELEASE 18 March 2005
Green Party calls for inquiry into deportation
of Nigerian teenage
The
Green Party has called on the Government to inquire into the circumstances
surrounding the deportation of Olunkunle Eluhanla. Mr. Eluhanla (19) was a
student at Palmerston Community School up until his arrest and deportation on a
government charter flight to Nigeria last Tuesday 15 March. Green
Party Justice spokesperson Ciarán Cuffe TD
said today that, “Mr. Eluhanla was deported in his school uniform without
identity papers. I am told that he was briefly detained in Alagbon Prison in
Nigeria and that he was subsequently attacked and molested. I am calling on the
Minister for Justice to show some compassion and allow Mr. Eluhanla to sit his
Leaving Certificate in Ireland. ” “I
have tabled questions to the Minister McDowell in regard to this issue, and I am
hoping that he will reconsider the deportation Order and allow this young man
return to complete his studies in Ireland. “It
is wrong to deport someone who is weeks away from sitting his Leaving
Certificate. I believe that there should be an inquiry into the events
surrounding his arrest, deportation and subsequent treatment in Nigeria. Mr.
Eluhanla should be allowed complete his studies. “As
Ireland continues its St. Patrick’s Festival celebrations it is worthwhile
remembering that Patrick himself was an immigrant who suffered poverty and
imprisonment in his quest for justice.” Questions Tabled to the Minister for Justice
follow
“To
ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to make an inquiry into
the circumstances surrounding the deportation of Olunkunle Eluhanla, a student
at Palmerston Community School in his school uniform without identity papers to
Nigeria, and to make a statement on the matter?” “To
ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to explain his reasons for
the deportation of Olunkunle Eluhanla, a student at Palmerston Community School
in his school uniforms without identity papers to Nigeria, to ask whether he is
aware that Mr. Eluhanla was subsequently attacked and molested and to make a
statement on the matter?” ENDS |
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Ciarán Cuffe is a TD for the Dún Laoghaire
Dáil Constituency. Ciarán can be contacted at Dáil Éireann, Kildare Street,
Dublin 2 or 96 Patrick Street, Dún Laoghaire Tel. 284 6060
or 618 3082, Fax 618 4341, Email
Ciaran |
CiaranCuffe.com