Missing Migrants make a mockery of Helen McEntee's 'humanitarian response'

The whereabouts of eight of 14 migrants discovered in a container at Rosslare is unknown

Eight of the 14 migrants found in a shipping container at Rosslare on Monday went missing this afternoon following their transfer to Dublin for processing. Hours earlier, the Minister for Justice had been outlining the Irish State’s ‘humanitarian response’ to their discovery.

“The most important thing is there is a humanitarian response here and thankfully, I mean, we could have had people who died here. We’ve had fatalities, we’ve seen absolutely awful cases in other jurisdictions, thankfully that didn’t happen,” Minister Helen McEntee told RTE’s Morning Ireland, shortly after 8am.

“These people are well, they have been checked, they have been supported and made sure that their health is well,” the Minister said.

By mid-afternoon, eight of the 14 migrants discovered in a vessel that departed Zebrugge in Belgium, had gone missing. The Minister told the state broadcaster this morning that the group of migrants, made up of nine men, three women and two children, would be given an opportunity to ‘tell their story’ as part of their application for asylum. However, the majority of the migrants declined the Minister’s offer.

“They will be treated the same as everybody else. They will be given an opportunity to tell their story, to give their reason for being here to seek international protection,” Minister McEntee said.

By 5.30pm, Independent.ie had published an ‘exclusive’ story online, documenting the departure of eight of these migrants from an asylum centre in Dublin following their transfer there from Rosslare.

“My role in this is to make sure people who seek international protection are given an interview and given a chance to make their case that their application is turned around as quickly as possible - and if they’ve a right to be here, they are given that right, they are given that protection, they are given a roof over their head and if not they are asked to leave,” the Minister told presenter Audrey Carville.

Independent.ie reports that senior sources said the eight missing migrants are not being sought by gardai as they are not under criminal investigation.

“Gardaí had not yet been able to formally interview any of the migrants as none spoke English and the interaction with the children has to be carried out by specialist interviewers with the aid of interpreters,” Independent.ie reported.

The migrant group includes 10 Kurdish people from Iran and Iraq, including two girls aged six and four years, as well one person from Turkey and three from Vietnam, according to Independent.ie. Nine of the adults are male and three are female.

The Minister’s Morning Ireland interview revealed the State’s chaotic approach to immigration, as Carville pressed the Minister for an answer about ‘fair distribution’ of asylum seekers and refugees.

“I want a roof over anybody’s head that seeks protection here,” McEntee said.

“Is there fair distribution at the moment of asylum seekers to different towns and cities in the country?” the presenter asked.

“Well look the way this is done is where accommodation is available so it’s not looking at per population in each county or rural or urban....”

The presenter interrupted McEntee to ask, should the numbers be fairly distributed?

“Given the protests we are seeing and given that people talk about services and being able to meet the needs of asylum seekers coming to live among them, should you be looking at a fair distribution?”

“Of course it needs to be evenly distributed but we do also have to be able to house people...” the Minister said.

“Is it evenly distributed right now?”

“Em I don’t have a clear picture of where everybody is across the country, I don’t think anybody has that clear picture. Yes there are certain counties have taken a higher intake....”

“More than their fair share?”

“Well I think counties and communities have been extremely welcoming...We are responding to a significant challenge in the belief that we are doing so in the most appropriate way and I think communities for the most part have worked with us and gotten on board,” the Minister said.

The RTE presenter’s next question raised the issue of deportations, forcing McEntee to admit that the whereabouts of the ‘vast majority’ of those issued with deportation orders is unknown.

“Last year something like 736 deportation orders were signed, only 34 were carried out. Why so few?” Carville asked.

“No that’s not correct at all,” the Minister replied. She said that of 836 deportation orders, less than 100 were ‘forced deportation orders’ whereby Gardai are involved. This Substack understands that it is the Minister’s Department that covers the cost of these ‘forced deportation orders,’ paying for plane tickets to remove immigrants. McEntee’s comments this morning further reveal that the State also assisted an undisclosed number of the ‘over 300 voluntary deportation orders’ issued, since ‘they may have arrived here with nothing.’

The Minister was unable to give exact figures - which should be available from civil servants working in her own Justice Department - revealing that for the remaining number of deportation orders issued - amounting to more than 400 people - ‘we don’t have the exact data.’

“Last year there were 836 deportation orders signed, eh, less than a hundred of those would have been forced deportations where Gardai had to get involved and put people on planes and bring them out,” the Minister said.

“You had over 300 where we had voluntary, and by voluntary I mean, you know, some of them were assisted, they might have arrived here with nothing but needed assistance to go back to where they came from and the vast majority have been investigations essentially by the Garda National Immigration Bureau to identify where they are and in the vast majority of cases we know they have left the country so of the 836 while we dont have the exact data on every single one of those, the vast majority have left the country.”

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