IRELAND OF THE WELCOMES

TRUTH or MYTH!

by Sr Monica Kelly SSC - Migrant Information Centre

IRELAND OF THE WELCOMES : Truth or Myth?

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Anar was not yet 18 years old. He had left behind a widowed mother who managed a small factory and an older brother, who was a farmer in the country. He is one of the growing number of Mongolians coming to Ireland to study English. The cost of his course at the Dublin school of English was almost 10,000, including accommodation, of which he was required to pay 3,500 up front and would find the rest by working part time here. Anar found accommodation in Cabinteely, Dublin and part time jobs in the area. One of those jobs was the evening shift in a pub in Killiney. This meant returning home in the early hours of the morning.

Anar was unfortunate to be in the wrong place at the wrong time on the night of December 28th, 2001. Walking home from work at 2.am he came to the assistance of a woman in distress and tried to help her. This woman had been drinking in the pub earlier, she had then gone to her friend s house and had more drink. As she was walking home she was assaulted by a man she described as "Oriental" either Chinese or Japanese, about 5 4"in height.

In early January, Anar s work at the pub discontinued and he moved to other accommodation in Cabra Rd. Dublin, North side. On February 14th, 2002, Anar was arrested after a ‘setup by Garth when he was called back to the pub by his former employer to collect some wages owed to him. As he left the pub he was surrounded by Gardai and taken to Cabinteely Garda Station, there he was he was charged with sexual assault and assault causing harm to the above mentioned woman on the morning of December 29th, 2002, Anar has consistently denied this charge.

Anar is 6 3" and looks quite different to the photo fit picture circulated by Gardai following the assault. There was no identity parade and the woman never identified Anar as her attacker. Anar s rights were not clearly translated to him. In addition a bus driver gave a statement that she had dropped off an "Oriental" looking man, about 5 3" close to the scene about 10 minutes before the crime occurred. No attempt was made to find this man. Anar was remanded to Clover Hill Prison where he was detained for 13 months.

On March 3rd, 2003, Anar Odon was declared "not guilty " by Mr. Justice Michael White at the Dublin Circuit Court on the basis of non-translation of his rights. When Anar asked about compensation for his 13 months unfair imprisonment, he was told he had no such entitlement.

Our attention was drawn to this case by a law student, Bo McDowell, who contacted the Migrant Information Centre (MIC) wondering if we could find some accommodation for Anar, who was granted bail in July but was still in prison at that stage. We made enquires and visited Mar in prison to make arrangements for accommodation and also to give him support. However since it was already early February 2003, Anar decided he would stay in Clover Hill Prison until his hearing on February 24th.

I attended the four day bearing and was asked to find accommodation for Mar when he was released from custody. I continued to offer Mar support in his adjustment and in his preparations for his return to Mongolia. Mr.Ernest Crossan, the Mongolian consul and owner of the Dublin School of English took care of Mar s accommodation. Mar s good friend from the guild of St. Philip, SVP. who visited Mar regularly in prison continued to support him, as did Bo McDowell, who contributed generously for his expenses. Other well wishers, who read Carol Coulter s article on Mar s ordeal in the Irish Times March 4th, wrote offering financial support and regret for what had happened to him.

Before leaving for Mongolia, Mar commissioned a Solicitor to take his case to redeem his name and seek some compensation for his unfair imprisonment. This seems only right because to quote Anar s own words "I have lost so many things , my place in school, my money, my name, my mind, my mothers mind".

The case of Mar Odon raises many questions about our juridical process and system. I wonder if I, as an Irish citizen living overseas happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and I became a suspect in a crime and was detained in prison for 13 months, would not my Irish government do all in its power to get due process for me and to expedite my case? Again as an Irish citizen in my own country, if! were detained as a suspect in a criminal case for 13 months, surely I would be entitled to some redress and compensation for unjust imprisonment, loss of freedom and denial of my rights. The absence of proper translation should also be addressed. Questions about the absence of support for people in Mar s position, who was granted bail but not able on his own to organize accommodation, needs to be faced.

Finally there was a clear assumption that because Mar was Asian and as the suspected attacker was Asian, Mar was immediately under suspicion — is this not Racial positing?

If an Irish citizen can expect some redress for injustice such as the above surely my Mongolian friend who has spent 13 months behind bars, a 17 year old boy, alone, a stranger in a strange country cannot be sent home without some acknowledgment of the wrong that has been done to him and without some effort to make restitution.

Submitted by: Monica Kelly MIC.

The MIC, a Columban Missionary initiative is a National Rights based organization working with Migrants and their families,

We can be contacted at:
No 3 Beresford Place, Dublin 13.
Tel.00 353 13 8881355.
mic@columban.com

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