Tánaiste investigating if 'illegal' US deportation flight stopped in Shannon en route to Africa
Speaking on RTÉ Radio this morning, Simon Harris said that he is 'trying to establish the facts' following US media reports.
Gardaí in Shannon have this morning told
The Journal
that the flight is believed to have been a deportation flight that stopped in Ireland en route to Africa.
Last night
the New York Times published an article
that claimed a flight carrying at least eight illegally-deported migrants had left the US en route to South Sudan on Tuesday. The plane flew from Texas to Shannon where it refueled and then took off, flying across Europe and over Saudi Arabia before landing in Djibouti in east Africa.
Djibouti has a massive US military base and airfield and was used in the emergency airlift from Sudan when the war broke out in Khartoum.
The Journal
has established that the plane, a Gulfstream V, landed in Shannon and spent approximately two hours on the ground on Tuesday night. It is not known as yet if gardaí or immigration officials had any interactions with the plane during its time at the airport.
Neither the Department of Justice nor Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin responded to a request for a statement. A statement has been requested from gardaí.
It is routine that US flights land at Shannon to refuel. Some are military while most, including the Gulfstream GV, are operated by civilian charter companies.
Civilian charter company Journey Aviation lists
the aircraft on their website
. The aircraft is a 14-seater.
Our enquiries have found that Journey Aviation has contracts with the US Government.
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The New York Times reported that a judge in Boston, Brian E Murphy, found the Trump administration had breached an order he issued last month barring the US from deporting people to countries not their own without first giving them sufficient time to object.
This morning Simon Harris said that he was aware of the US media report and was making enquiries to check its veracity.
'I'm trying to establish the facts on this now in real time, because I'm aware of the US media reports.
'I have no reason to believe that the procedures in place for the use of Irish airports by foreign aircraft has been breached by the United States. But I am seeking more information from my department this morning,' he said.
Harris added that he was also seeking 'legal clarity' because of the seriousness of the incident.
'I think complying with US law is obviously a matter for the US administration.
'Complying with our own laws is obviously a matter for the Irish, for the Irish State and the Irish government.
'Let me try and establish more in relation to this, as my Department is. There are very clear rules in relation to flights that can and can't stop over in Shannon and what they must do and not do.
'We need to see whether this was in compliance with that. This is a story that's only emerged in US media, so I'm trying to get on top of it now,' he added.
A spokesman for the US Embassy in Dublin referred our query to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE has not responded to a request for a statement.
With reporting from Conor O'Carroll.
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