A Nigerian man, who claims he came here because he feared he would become a human sacrifice if he stayed in Nigeria, secured a High Court order overturning the Minister for Justice's refusal to revoke an order to deport him.
Mr Olasupo Olorunyomi (23), Montrose Drive, Artane, Dublin, had applied for asylum following his discovery in January 2000 that his father was a member of a secret cult and had pledged to sacrifice his first born son to this cult.
Mr Olorunyomi told the court in an affidavit he would rather die than return to Nigeria, so strong was his fear.
Yesterday, in his judgment on Mr Olorunyomi's application for leave to seek an order quashing the Minister's decision, Mr Justice Gilligan said a consultant psychotherapist's report had said the man was deeply depressed and at times quite actively suicidal. He would continue to be so until the risk of a return to his homeland was rescinded.
The report "clearly makes for significant reading and concluded that the applicant's fragile sense of identity and security painstakingly rebuilt over his years in Ireland is dangerously undermined by the threat of deportation", he said.
The judge said that the man's first application for asylum failed. The Refugee Appeals Tribunal sympathised with him and was impressed by his character references, but said the humanitarian aspects of the case were not within its jurisdiction.
Mr Justice Gilligan said the applicant's solicitor had on July 4th, 2002, written to the Minister advising that his client had presented himself at the Immigration Bureau, as requested, on June 28th, 2002.
Since then, Mr Olorunyomi's solicitors had become aware, as a result of contact with the Institute of Psycho Social Medicine in Dún Laoghaire, that there were good grounds to believe the applicant "may well attempt to take his own life before the repatriation takes place". The therapist indicated the report would be available on July 5th, 2002, and the solicitors called on the Minister to revoke the deportation order and asked to be notified of that decision on July 5th. If it was not revoked, they indicated legal proceedings would be instituted.
On July 5th, the Minister's representative replied by letter that the Minister did not intend to revoke the order. Mr Olorunyomi's solicitors then sought leave on July 8th, 2002, to apply for an order quashing the decision.
Mr Justice Gilligan said it was unfortunate that the report was not available before the deadline. It was also unfortunate that both parties did not step back from the situation which was patently apparent on July 8th when the therapist's report was available.
He granted an order quashing the Minister's decision and adjourned the hearing until August 30th when he will consider what further order should be made.