Afghans among 197 children deported from Ireland so far this year

Irish Times

8 hours ago

Afghanistan was one of the 'top' countries of origin for almost 200 children deported from Ireland between January and May this year.
The Government deported 197 children during the first five months of 2024, according to figures released in response to a parliamentary question from Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon. Of these, 148 were aged 13 and under and 49 were teenagers between the ages of 14 and 17. Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan said that no unaccompanied child was deported, and that children and their mothers were not detained before deportation.
The latest figures mark an increase from the 191 children deported in 2024, 27 in 2023, and three in 2022.
Afghanistan was one of the 'top' countries of origin for children deported so far this year, along with Nigeria, Georgia, Brazil and South Africa, according to the Department of Justice. Afghan deportations were 'cases where there has been a lack of co-operation with the international protection process, such as when a person does not attend interviews or make representations that they and their family should be granted permission to remain in Ireland', the department said. In these cases, there was 'no alternative' but to make a deportation order.
READ MORE
Mr Gannon said children made up 14 per cent of those deported so far this year, despite only accounting for 7 per cent of all deportation orders issued since 2023. Children are being 'disproportionately targeted', he said. 'Most of these kids have been here for years. They're in our schools, in our communities, Ireland is the only home they know. They're facing the consequence of deportation, to countries they have no meaningful ties to, not because of anything they've done, but because the State didn't plan or staff the international protection system properly.'
Ireland recorded the highest European increase in asylum-seeking child arrivals between 2023 and 2024, according to a new report from Save the Children. The number of migrant children to arrive in the State rose 81 per cent from 2,880 in 2023 to 5,225 in 2024. Slovenia, Malta, Poland and Greece also recorded significant increases in child arrivals.
Last year, nearly a quarter of the 254,900 first-time asylum applications made in European countries came from children. Of these, more than a fifth came from Syria and 13 per cent were Afghan. Some 43,300 children who came to Europe in 2024 seeking asylum were unaccompanied, said Save the Children.
The report warns children arriving at European borders face systematic abuse and detention as countries tighten migration controls in advance of the implementation of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum next year.
The pact, which promises to balance stronger border security with greater migrant protection, risks failing to safeguard children, particularly unaccompanied minors, the report warns.
[
Five children among 35 people deported to Nigeria on chartered flight
Opens in new window
]
Testimonies from migrant children shine a light on these harrowing journeys, during which they must rely on smugglers and are exposed to violence and exploitation.
A 15-year-old Syrian recalled how 'every second we thought we would die' when crossing from Turkey to Greece across the Aegean Sea on a boat crammed with people. 'Whenever the water splashed over the side, we thought that we were going to die. I was scared, every second.'
Another Syrian 15-year-old migrant described how Serbian police slapped and beat boys who were held in prison for two weeks. 'We went a whole day without any food or water. We had to drink water from the toilet as we were shut in this tiny room, as wide as my arms and three metres long. We were five people in that same cell.'
In 2024, Germany received the highest number of children applying for asylum for the first time (84,315), followed by France (40,845), Spain (29,740), Greece (18,000) and Italy (12,215), according to Eurostat.
However, the overall number of first-time asylum applications across Europe fell by 13 per cent between 2023 and 2024.
Greece witnessed a fourfold increase in the number of migrant children arriving across its borders, with 86 per cent aged under 15. Many of these children endure 'perilous journeys' from countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia before facing stays in 'restrictive, detention-like conditions in reception camps across the Aegean Islands and the Greek mainland', notes the report. Pushbacks and arbitrary detention remain in practice across the region, it adds.
The Polish-Belarusian border, an increasingly common migratory route for unaccompanied children, remains a 'hotspot for serious human rights violations', with children on the Belarusian side subjected to 'physical and psychological abuse – beaten, attacked by dogs, stripped of clothing and shoes, and deprived of identity documents', said the report.