Urgent Action needed Today on behalf of Anita Dolinska !

national | miscellaneous | news report Thursday March 21, 2002 17:21 by Roma Support Network romafailte2000 at hotmail dot com

We ask you to give your continued support to the case of the community worker Anita Dolinska & her son Emiliano who have been issued with deportation orders.

We would be grateful if you would sign the following letter and forward it to the UNHCR iredu@unhcr.ch today ensuring that you include your full postal and e-mail address in order that it is accepted as authentic.

We also ask you to forward a copy of your letter by email to:

Irish Refugee Council, refugee@iol.ie
National Consultative Committee on Racism & Interculturalism, nccri@eircom.net

This will ensure that they are aware of the level of support there is for her plight.

We also ask that you forward a copy to us here at

Roma Support Network, romafailte2000@hotmail.com

so that we may monitor the level of response.

Intervention by the UNHCR is our last hope. Time is very short. We need your help today!

If anyone wishes to have further clarification please email us or ring +353 86 818 5734 and we will be pleased to answer your questions.

Many thanks from Anita for all your support.

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Ms. Pia Prütz Phiri
U.N.H.C.R.,
27, Upper Fitzwilliam Street,
Dublin 2;
Ireland.

Re: Anita Dolinska and Emiliano Dolinski

Ref: 69/758/00

Dear Ms. Prütz Phiri,

The severe injustice of the proposed deportation of Anita Dolinska and her son Emiliano has been brought to my attention.

I fail to understand why she has been refused refugee status or any level of protection by the State.

As the body responsible for upholding the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention I request your immediate intervention in ensuring that Ireland fulfils its legal obligations by granting Anita and Emiliano the protection to which they are entitled.

It is clear that Anita has been unable to state her case effectively due to:

· Illiteracy
· Inability to state her case in her own language
· Lack of educational opportunities
· Her membership of the Roma Community
· Justifiable mistrust of authorities outside her own community
· Physical ill heath
· Psychological trauma due to all the personal factors in her case involving her right to assert herself as an independent single Roma woman activist within her community
· The reluctance of authorities in Poland to become involved in disputes within the Roma community
· The inability of the authorities in Poland to afford protection to her or to her children.

Anita and her son have been advised that they must leave the State by 29 March 2002 despite the fact that her son has lived here for 2 years and 2 months and in Poland for only 6 months of his life.

Should they be returned to Poland there are strong indications that her son will be taken from her, either by the authorities, as she has no way to provide for him, or by the family of his father who have already taken one of her children from her already.

In the last year, 4 attempts have been made in Galway to subject Anita to another unwanted marriage. In each case she had protection to prevent this.

I fail to understand how Minister O’Donoghue has satisfied himself that Anita and Emiliano will be in no danger if returned to Poland.

The letter Anita and her son received refusing humanitarian leave to remain in Ireland stated:

"The reasons for the Minister’s decision are that you are persons whose refugee status has been refused and, having had regard to the factors set out in section 3(6) of the Immigration Act, 1999, including the representations received on your behalf, the Minister is satisfied that the interests of public policy and the common good in maintaining the integrity of the asylum and immigration systems outweigh such features of your case as might tend to support your being granted leave to remain in this state."

I fail to comprehend how allowing them humanitarian leave to remain in Ireland can be seen as a threat to the State or to the integrity of an asylum and immigration system which has so far failed to make provision for Anita’s inability to state her case clearly from the outset.

Your immediate intervention is necessary to prevent Anita and Emiliano being placed in a life-threatening situation.

Please advise by return of post on the actions you intend to take to afford protection to Anita and Emiliano.

Yours sincerely,

NAME:

ORGANISATION:

POSTAL ADDRESS:

E-MAIL ADDRESS:

Copies to:

Irish Refugee Council, 40 Lower Dominick Street, Dublin 1. Ireland.

N.C.C.R.I., 26, Harcourt Street, Dublin 2.Ireland.

Roma Support Network, c/o Galway One World Centre, 4th Floor, The Halls, Quay Street, Galway. Ireland.