Nearly 40 asylum seekers arrested and families separated after routine check in

Ottoline Spearman

Nearly 40 people have been arrested and some families separated as gardaí carried out a "day of action".

On Thursday morning, a total of 38 men, women, and children - some as young as 13 - were arrested as they went to sign on to notify the State of their whereabouts at the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB).

Some of the men are now in Cloverhill Prison, with some women in Dóchas women's prison, it is believed.

Angelia Russell, a South African activist, told BreakingNews.ie that her family and friends had been caught up in the arrests.

"It started with my two best friends. They went into the GNRB, just to go and present themselves. Just a routine signing to say that they're not going to run away from their deportation order.

"I hadn't spoken to them since 25 past 10 in the morning and it should only take around 15 minutes when they go inside.

"At around half 11 I realised that, okay, something had happened to them."

Russell said that her husband's family had also been detained after that. She said that her 13-year-old cousin, together with his 23-year-old brother, had to watch their father being arrested and subsequently detained. She said that the father has "chronic high blood pressure", and the young boy's mental health issues - which were already very bad, have been exacerbated by the experience.

"They've denied them medication, they've denied them contact with the family," she said.

She said that the father and the 23-year-old have been detained, while the mother, 25-year-old daughter, and the young boy have been sent to the Travel Lodge near Dublin Airport, awaiting deportation.

Russell also described how an 80-year-old woman who "can't even walk" went into the GNIB to register, with her son waiting outside, and "never came back out".

Russell said that "word was going around" that a deportation flight had been booked for three days time, on February 16th.

Gardaí said that 23 men and 15 women had been arrested "in advance of planned national return operations".

"An Garda Síochána continues to work closely with the Department of Justice in implementing immigration policy", a spokesperson said.

"No additional information is available at this time."

The Department of Justice said: "This is an operational matter for An Garda Síochána."