Hope fades fast as deportation looms
Wednesday March 19 2008
ONLY a day before they were the toast of their local St Patrick's Day parade, but yesterday two Nigerian sisters were preparing to say farewell to their adopted home.
Naomi (7) and Jemima (5) Izevbekhai and their mother, Pamela, made the trip from their home in Sligo to the offices of the Garda National Immigration Bureau on Burgh Quay, Dublin, yesterday, where they were ordered to present themselves for deportation following the failure of their lengthy legal battle to remain in this country.
The two girls were part of a Samba float which was selected for a prize by a panel of judges in Sligo on Monday.
They were unable to attend the awards ceremony later that evening as they were packing their bags for the trip to Dublin. About 40 supporters surrounded the family as they made their way reluctantly through the doors of the building shortly before 3pm.
Concerned friends feared they would never see the family again, but they emerged just 10 minutes later having been told to present themselves at the Balseskin refugee centre in Ballymun this morning.
The family are relying on a last-ditch hope the Justice Minister Brian Lenihan will grant them a subsidiary protection order entitling them to stay in this country.
Talking to reporters outside, Ms Izevbekhai said: "I've hope in God and I believe the minister is humane, he will do something."
She fears if they are returned to Nigeria, her two daughters will face female genital mutilation.
- Breda Heffernan
