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IRISH FILM-MAKER NIAMH Heery is completing the final stages a documentary on the Syrian Refugee Camp at Harmanli in Bulgaria.
There she met Mohamad Almasalmeh. He was 17 when he witnessed the first killings of the Syrian conflict in his hometown of Dar’aa, and is one of the 2.5 million who have fled Syria.
He shared his story with Heery, of how in 2011 residents in his town began protesting against the imprisonment and torture of local children who were caught writing anti-government graffiti.
“They were told to ‘forget about them’,” she said.
“In one of the Dar’aa protests on March 18 2011, a huge police presence was felt, on the ground and at a height. Shots were fired at the crowd. Three people were killed.”
These were the first people killed in the Syrian revolution.
Almasalmeh saw the first man being shot, falling to the ground after a bullet entered his abdomen.
Protests began in other major towns soon after, he told Heery, in support of the residents of Dar’aa who wanted the children freed.
The event was filmed by his older cousin, who sent the footage on to Al Jazeera. He continued to film events for the next two years, before he shot in Dar’aa.
Forced displacement
Syria is now the world’s leader for forced displacement, as over 6.5 million has been forced to move.
That’s 40 per cent of the country’s population prior to the conflict.
“It is unconscionable that a humanitarian catastrophe of this scale is unfolding before our eyes with no meaningful progress to stop the bloodshed,” United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres has said.
Refugees continue to pour across borders into neighbouring countries. Lebanon, a country with a population just shy of 5 million, has received close to 1 million.
In Europe, 56,000 applications for asylum have been received, the UN said, and is appealing for regions around the world to “ensure access to territory for all Syrians seeking protection”.
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So despite Shao giving a false name initially and a false address, it is enough to evade deportation for being unlawfully in the state, so it seems anyway.
@Honeybee: No it’s not. As we can see from the judges statements when he ruled in the states favour last November, “merely sending a document to the wrong address does not make it invalid” . This is about the failures with the Garda and the GNIB , which amounted technically, to evidence being withheld from the courts. We can’t have court judgements made when all the relevant information is not submitted. Lessons learned(hopefully) check if given addresses even exist and make sure computer data recording systems are fit for purpose and data is up to date!
How much did the members of the legal trade squeeze out this farrago?
It’s nice work if you can get it.
Unbelievable..
And how much has all this fiasco cost us, the tax payer? Not being deported on a technicality. This is a joke, hes illegally here, knows that hes illegally her and so do the courts.
Meanwhile he remains an illegal immigrant and as such should be removed, no?
So the judge says that nobody is to blame for this; yes there is someone to blame: the judge!
How did he manage to get married? Would he not have to prove he’s here legally? Did he produce false documents or information for the marriage?
@Peter: No. He obviously was unaware of all the letters that were went to him over 9 years :D
@Peter: There are grounds to appeal this on the basis of his marriage .Interesting how he got married as an illegal !!
How much did the members of the legal trade make out of this farrago?
It’s nice work if you can get it.
The land of milk and honey if you’re playing the system , otherwise it’s the second highest tax taker in Europe if your a worker ,no wonder all the real brains of the country are still emmergrating ,ie doctors ,nurses,
@Gerard Heery: 2nd highest tax taker if you are a worker…..so income tax? Do you have a source for that?
@Gavin Conran: it was on the rte news last week Denmark has highest
So, has he been deported or what? Deportation should not hinge on technicalities.
‘He who seek justice must come with clean hand.’ The blameless and unintentional misleading of the court should not have rendered this deportation order invalid. It does not change the fact that he knowingly stay here illegally.
@Irish Snowden: Equity doesn’t apply in this case, and if it did, the State’s paws were dirtier.
Meanwhile, we can’t seem to extradite FFG despite their $230 debt.
@Denis McClean: Billion.
@Denis McClean: I presume you mean the people that took out loans they couldn’t afford to pay back got us into this mess, do some research
@Denis McClean: the €230bn (which is actually more like the ~$256.56bn as of this morning) on the irish debt clock? As in the debt clock that started on the state since the state was born? The same debt that will never be paid back in our lifetime, unless you’re proposing each citizen fork out circa 48k each to pay it back. This is why NTMA issue bond sales, so that they can keep up with their interest payments of this debt. To conclude, this debt is not just FFGs, its everyone’s in Ireland.
@talksense: You can’t really be that naive, can you? Here’s the PAC transcript with AIB’s chairman admitting that the Irish banks were at fault for throwing the country off a cliff. Don’t let facts get in the way of your ability to be duped. https://inquiries.oireachtas.ie/banking/hearings/dermot-gleeson-former-chairman-aib/
So why isn’t he processed for deportation with the correct information!
Anyone who is illegal should be deported it should be that straight forward. I wounder if they caught the lads that came in on a container in new port Ross late last year ?
If this was a report about an Irish man living in China, and an attempt by the Chinese police to wrongfully deport him, people here would have plenty to say in his favour. The justice system worked here as it is supposed to, the Judge protected this man from a wrongful approach to his case by the executive arm of the State.
@John Considine: But I very much doubt if the apocryphal Irish man living in China could evade the authorities for 18 years. How could he rent/buy accommodation, work (I suppose), get married, get legal aid (I suppose). Oh, and get a fair hearing at one the top courts in the land. Chinese courts convict more than 99.9 percent of defendants (source: Daily Telegraph).
@Earth Traveller: Be glad then that you don’t live there and enjoy the rights that the Irish system gives you.
@John Considine: That’s exactly how I read it. Also, I’m unsure why people are being arrested now for the crime of obstructing traffic. I’m sure we’ve all had car trouble at some point. It doesn’t sound like anything worth going to court over, TBH.
@John Considine: Nope. I want all people who are in a country they’re not supposed to be in, to be sent back to the country they came from. Even the Irish.
Best article I’ve Ever read on The Journal. By Far ! & I’ve probably read more than most, commented on very feaw. However, I must add, i do giggle at Most comments. Interesting case. Hope all works out. T
Few. Phew !
Tip of the Iceberg. It seems Ireland rewards those who break the law.
Best article I’ve Ever read on The Journal. By Far ! & I’ve probably read more than most, commented on very feaw. However, I must add, i do giggle at Most comments. Interesting case. Hope all works out. T
Ireland once again allowed to be taken for a Ride . What a complete joke, how incompet-nt we are when it comes to immigration policy for our country. We the working tax payer continues to foot the bill. This outrage will only continue until we have a world wide recession, and then we will wake up. Shame, Shame, to continue and make M orons
out of us.
just checking i’m not banned!
@Marie Broomfield: whey hey! where my initial comment gone so. so bloody annoying! (wasn’t even a toxic warning unlike this comment)
All Chinese students are here not for learning but to stay over the time on visa, its a scam to by in here in the first instance then they are in and overstayed indefinitely , have a child usually and get leave to remain. We are too soft here.
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Source: Mohamad Almasamleh" title="">
Source: Mohamad Almasamleh" title="">
Source: Mohamad Almasamleh" title="">
Source: Mohamad Almasamleh" title="">
Source: Mohamad Almasamleh" title="">
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