In the first of a new series on immigrant families affected by deportation, Mariam Alli tells Catherine Reilly how hard losing her husband has been on their five children
Lusk resident Mariam Alli fears her husband’s recent deportation to Nigeria will make their five children “liabilities” in the future.
Mariam, originally from Ivory Coast, is legally resident in Ireland. She arrived in 2004, had an Irish-born child here and attained residency in October 2005 under the briefly reopened Irish Born Child (IBC) Scheme.
Her husband, Kabiru, journeyed to Ireland in 2007, expecting to also gain residency based on his wife and children’s legal status. However, he was refused leave to stay and deported to Nigeria on 3 March last.
The Allis’ five children range from seven months to 11 years – Juwon the eldest, Arafat (8), Kenny and Tai (5), and baby Shukra – and three are Irish citizens.
All bar the youngest are attending primary schools in Lusk, north county Dublin, and have been asking where their father is.
“They said, ‘What happened?'” says Mariam. “I said they took him to Nigeria, and they said they want daddy back.
“It’s not easy at all,” she continues. “He used to wake and bath them in the morning before going to school, take them to their football, while I cook and do the housework.”
Mariam says she only has secondary-level education, and her husband was more adept at assisting the children with their homework.
“I only went to secondary school; here I did another course, but he knows better than me. I’d say to them, ‘Leave it to daddy, daddy will help you out’... I don’t want them to be liabilities in the future.”
Until December 2008, Mariam ran a €2 goods store in Athlone, Co Westmeath, but sales “weren’t moving” and she had to shut up shop.
She is not currently working, and the couple expected that when her husband received legal status, he’d be able to work.
