A Palestinian family have been granted subsidiary protection in Ireland due to the risk of serious harm in Gaza.
Sawsan Mohammed and her two young children, Ali (5) and Omar (3), who live in the Mosney asylum seeker centre in Co Meath, had previously been refused refugee protection by the controversial Refugee Appeals Tribunal.
However, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern has decided that Mohammed could be at risk in Gaza on two counts – as a single mother she is in danger from religious fundamentalists, and is also at risk from the Israeli army’s repeated incursions into Gaza since its withdrawal in September 2005.
A report published by Amnesty International states that some 1,400 Palestinians were killed in attacks by Israeli forces during Operation Cast Lead between 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009. Some 5,000 were injured, many maimed for life. Hundreds of those killed were unarmed civilians, including 300 children.
Mohammed, who was represented by Terence Lyons and Co solicitors in Dublin, had applied to the Irish Government for subsidiary protection, a watered-down and last-gasp version of refugee status.
Introduced into Irish law in September 2006 under EU regulations, subsidiary protection is a form of international protection for people who show they are at risk of serious harm in their home country, but who do not qualify for refugee protection because the risk does not involve their race, religion or political opinion, or because of their membership of a particular social group.
Subsidiary protection can also apply where there is a threat to someone’s life by reason of indiscriminate violence during an armed conflict.
Only a very small number of applicants have been granted subsidiary protection in Ireland since 2006.
