A High Court decision that circumscribes the rights accorded to Irish-born children threatens the families of hundreds of asylum seekers with deportation.
Last Monday, Mr Justice Smyth upheld a decision by the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, to order the deportation of a Czech couple and their three non-national children, along with a Nigerian man, in spite of the fact that children had been born to them in this State. Under the Constitution, a child born here is automatically entitled to citizenship. And, following a Supreme Court judgement in 1990 which required 'a grave and substantial reason associated with the common good in order to justify splitting a family and deporting those members not born in Ireland', its parents were generally given resident rights here. That situation will no longer apply unless there is a successful appeal to the Supreme Court.
There is evidence to suggest that an automatic right of citizenship, accorded to every child born here, has been exploited by asylum-seeking families in their efforts to gain residency status. Ireland is the only EU State where such an entitlement exists and the number of applications under this heading grew from 1,227 in 1999 to more than 2,000 last year. The number of births to non-nationals rose to one in five in the Rotunda hospital in Dublin last year, while the number was one-in ten in Holles Street hospital.
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The Czech couple's son, Kevin, was born here last November, while the Nigerian man's son, Osaze Joshua, was born last October. The couple and the man had originally been refused asylum in the United Kingdom and later applied for residency here, citing their Irish-born children, both of whom were born after deportation orders had been made by the Minister for Justice.
Important questions have been left unanswered in the High Court judgement. How long must a child live in Ireland before its parents can expect to qualify for residency? What will happen to the child if its family is deported and how will its rights as an Irish citizen be protected either at home or abroad? This ruling was influenced by the State's insistence that the "integrity" of the asylum system - and its deportation arrangements - must be protected. A clarification of the issues is required and this development should be infused by a humanitarian approach.