The High Court dismissed a Nigerian mother and her two children’s judicial review of a decision refusing to review permission to remain and of deportation orders made against them. It also released the Minister for Justice and Equality from an undertaking not to deport the family.
Mr Justice Richard Humphreys delivered the judgment on 28 May 2019. The case concerned a review under section 49(9) of the International Protection Act 2015 and deportation orders made on 1 February 2019 under the Immigration Act 1999. The proceedings sought to quash the review decision and the deportation orders.
The mother, identified in the judgment as F.M.O. (Nigeria), arrived in Ireland with her second-named child in December 2014. She applied for asylum on the day her visitor visa expired, citing an alleged fear of Boko Haram. The third-named applicant was born in Ireland in April 2015. Protection applications were refused, and the International Protection Appeals Tribunal rejected the appeals in August 2018. The judgment records that decision-makers had found the claims inconsistent, unlikely or incredible.
The applicants argued that the Minister had failed to consider family rights, including the mother’s relationship with her brother, an Irish citizen, and the children’s best interests. They also alleged inadequate consideration of representations and documents submitted with the review application.
The judge rejected those grounds. He found that the section 49 factors were expressly cited in the decision and that the Minister had considered both those factors and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. A lack of detailed narrative discussion did not establish that the matters had not been considered. The court also noted that the applicants had not made submissions about their family life or relationship with the brother to the decision-maker, and said the review decision had to be read alongside the original decision.
The judgment further noted that the brother lived in Dundalk while the applicants lived in Sligo. It rejected the argument that the children’s best interests required them to remain in Ireland, stating that in this case they would travel to Nigeria with their parents. The judge also rejected the claim that the Minister had applied the wrong test by noting there were no obstacles to return.
Having considered the pleaded grounds and submissions, the court found no basis for relief. It dismissed the proceedings and released the respondent from the undertaking not to deport the applicants. The judgment did not itself set a deportation date.