Five months on and little progress for Gillian

Five months on from her husband's deportation to Nigeria, Athlone woman Gillian Olabode has sent an impassioned plea to the Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern to revoke the order in a letter and bring him back to Ireland. "Send him home to me and give him a chance," the Battery Road resident said this week in a direct appeal to the Minister, Department of Justice and the Garda National Immigration Bureau in a letter sent almost two weeks ago. Her husband Henry was deported back to Lagos, Nigeria on Wednesday, March 3 last after a deportation order was served on him after he had unsuccessfully applied for asylum when he first arrived in this country back in 2007. His legal team applied to the Department last March to have the deportation order revoked but the Athlone woman said they haven't heard a thing since then. "It's like I don't exist as his wife. As a normal Irish person, his wife would be acknowledged," Gillian complained, again hitting out at the immigration system, calling it disgraceful that spouses of Irish citizens from outside the EU were being targeted for deportation, while the non-EU spouses of other EU nationals could not be deported. "It's very unfair what has happened to us as a married couple. Henry is being punished for being honest," Gillian said sadly pointing out that her husband had informed authorities of their marriage in May 2009. "All we are looking for is fair play. I'm told we are entitled to an interview and we never got it. I've haven't heard a thing and it's been five months now," Ms Olabode, nee Fallon, bemoaned. "They call it the Department of Justice, where is the justice for us? I think it's a disgrace the way we are being treated," she remarked, adding that gay friends of hers actually have more rights than her as a married woman in the country at present, something she has no problem with all, but there must be fair play across the board. "I am pleading with the Minister to bring my husband back and give him a chance. Let him prove himself to this country and the Government. He doesn't want hand-outs, he wants to work and support his family." Although reluctant to sell her husband's car, Gillian is looking into the situation in a bid to fund a trip to see her husband in Nigeria, who she says she misses dearly. Moving to the African country isn't an option for Gillian as she has two children here, aged 13 and 18, who are still in education and uprooting them is something she just can't do. They are extremely upset by the whole situation, Gillian said. Of Henry who she speaks to almost every day by phone she noted: "He's trying to keep his faith up. He believes things will work out, although some days he says five months have gone by and we have heard nothing, not even a letter. It's just the waiting that is killing us. We really miss each other so much," the clearly emotion mother-of-two Gillian told the Westmeath Independent. Letters have been written to the Department in support of the couple's case by members of Gillian's family, Canon Liam Devine, and Senator Nicky McFadden, and, she is hopeful they will help their case. Solicitor Brian Burns of Burns, Kelly and Corrigan in Dublin, who represents Mr Olabode, has applied to the Minister for Justice to revoke the deportation order based on up-to-date information and changed circumstances but no decision has been forthcoming as of yet from the Department. It's thought if this avenue fails, the legal team will pursue the case in the High Court. Earlier this year Mr Burns pointed out that there is a big difference in the rights that an EU citizen living in Ireland enjoy when compared to that of an Irish citizen. "Any EU citizen living and working here is allowed to bring their spouse to Ireland and they are also allowed to live and work here. However, if you are an Irish citizen you don't have that right. You have to apply to the Minister and it is at his discretion so there is certainly an argument of discrimination there between Irish citizens and EU citizens," the solicitor said back in March. This anomaly in the law follows a judgment by the European Court of Justice in 2007, which barred the Government from deporting the non-EU spouses of EU citizens. A spokesperson from the Department of Justice was unavailable to comment on the situation at the time of going to press.