Deportation flight to South Africa for 63 people cost €612k
Ken Foxe
A deportation flight to South Africa was dogged by delays over travel documents for children and other people targeted for removal from the State.
Internal Department of Justice briefings show 63 people were ultimately onboard the €612,000 charter operation to Johannesburg, while earlier preparations had involved around 80 individuals being considered or targeted for removal.
The average cost per person worked out at around €9,700, not including staff costs for a substantial number of Garda escorts.
A briefing for Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said: “The significant challenge, at this point, is receiving the required travel documents from the South African authorities in a timely fashion.”
Officials said cooperation from the South African Embassy had been “excellent” but that some removals were complicated by the involvement of children.
The briefing added: “They have not yet issued documents for some children (including adult children) as there are procedural issues that the … authorities have to be satisfied with.
“[This includes] requiring the consent of a parent of children who is currently resident in South Africa for the issuing of a travel document or where a child is a stepchild.”
The minister was told that there were 38 people in custody in prison awaiting deportation on the flight.
Around 50 more people were being kept at one location in Dublin and were also “targets for this operation.”
The briefing said the 15 families had all been moved to a single centre in cooperation with IPAS, the garda immigration bureau, and the department’s repatriation unit.
It said: “All families were transferred on the basis that they would be removed within a short period of their transfer.
“There was substantial cooperation by the families concerned … and GNIB [Garda National Immigration Bureau] report that this has been of operational benefit.”
The document added that there were a number of people currently serving prison sentences who could be “potential targets” for the operation.
A separate briefing prepared after the operation said that 62 of the 63 people removed from the State had deportation orders against them.
It said 28 men, 26 women, and nine children – ranging in age from three to 14 – had been on board the flight to Johannesburg.
The briefing said the average time in the State for those removed from Ireland was four years and four months.
It added: “56 of the individuals had made unsuccessful claims for International Protection.
“10 of the individuals on the flight have records of criminality in the State.”
It said six people had been serving jail sentences at the time of their removal, but details of their crimes were redacted from the records.
The briefing added: “In any case where an individual who has been convicted of a serious crime is being removed prior to the completion of their sentence there is consultation with the victim.”
Of those detained prior to removal, the average length of time in custody was 16 days, while the flight itself cost €585,075, exclusive of VAT.
Other bills included €19,700 for an on-board medical team and around €7,900 in associated flight charges.
