Galway asylum seekers living in fear

Twenty Galway-based asylum seekers are living in constant fear of being deported to Pakistan where they face persecution, if not death.

The Ahmadi Muslim Community in Galway is concerned for the welfare of their members because of the volatile situation in Pakistan where the Ahmadi Muslims are under genocide threat from the Sunni Islamists.

The Irish Imam of the Ahmadi community in Ireland, Ibrahim Noonan, who is based in Galway, said the fears were justified – his own life was threatened on a recent visit to Pakistan.

“I am an Irish Muslim and if I can be threatened, you can imagine what they will do to their own citizens. There are about twenty of our members living in Galway, some have been here as long as seven years and have no status here, which means they could be deported at any time.

“These are genuine fears and we are doing everything we can to secure status for them on humanitarian grounds,” said Imam Noonan.

Letters have been sent to the Irish Government about the situation, which is growing more serious by the day.

“We know what happens to any Ahmadi Muslim who has been deported to Pakistan. The authorities there have a list and they know they are arriving. They are taken into custody by the federal police immediately, beaten and maybe tortured. They remain in jail until they get bail and sometimes being bailed out and being returned to their own villages might even mean death.

“Most of the families in Ireland have come here to escape persecution after some threat was made on their lives. In Galway, there are families and single men whose last chance is a High Court appeal against deportation,” he added.

The Ahmadi Muslim Community now have their own purpose-built mosque in Ballybrit, which is to be inaugurated on September 26.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.