A TOGOLESE Leaving Certificate student, who arrived as an unaccompanied minor two years ago and who has played a senior role as an elected member of the Irish youth parliament, has had his application for asylum refused.
Thomas Atcha (19) received notification of his refusal just days before he is due to start his Leaving Certificate examinations, which commence tomorrow.
Despite reference letters from the Office of the Minister for Children, his school, his social care worker and others involved with Dáil na nÓg, of which he was a council member, he now fears that he could face deportation in the coming days or weeks.
“I just can’t study, because I don’t know what the future holds for me,” he told The Irish Times. “It’s really stressful for me. I think I’m part of society, I’m not going to sit in the country without benefiting the country.”
Friends and Dáil na nÓg colleagues are hoping to launch a campaign with a view to reversing the decision.
During his time with Dáil na nÓg, Mr Atcha helped spearhead a successful campaign to assess the media’s portrayal of young people, and met with an Oireachtas committee, members of the media and a number of Government Ministers including two previous ministers for children, Brian Lenihan and Brendan Smith.
Mr Atcha, who lives at a direct provision centre in Sligo, says he and his mother were arrested for alleged political activity in February 2006, and he was held for a week at a police station, where he claims he was raped by a fellow detainee, before friends of his family successfully managed to secure his release. He sought medical treatment in Ireland for the injuries he received.
Mr Atcha, who was 17 at the time, travelled to Ghana before travelling to Ireland in March where he sought asylum as an unaccompanied minor a month later.
However, his application was subsequently refused by the Refugee Applications Commissioner, a decision which he appealed. He says he was informed on Wednesday of last week that the Refugee Appeals Tribunal had also rejected this appeal.
Among the issues it highlighted in this decision were his failure to disclose his sexual assault at an early stage – although Mr Atcha says he found it difficult to talk about – and the fact that his siblings appeared to be living in safety in Togo.
It also noted that it was difficult to verify his story or his documents and said several aspects of his case were not credible.
A decision on his case, signed by Ben Garvey BL, a member of the tribunal, is dated February of this year.
A fellow former council member of Dáil na nÓg, Maria Kelly, noted that Mr Atcha was elected by his peers in Sligo to represent them at a national level.
“He did a great job, we couldn’t have done it without him,” she said. “If he goes back to his country, more than likely he’s going to be killed. He has done something for Irish youth.”