LAST UPDATE | 1 Mar

63 PEOPLE HAVE been deported from Ireland to South Africa on a charter flight this weekend, the Department of Justice has confirmed.

The operation, carried out yesterday evening, saw 54 adults and nine children deported. The children were part of family units.

The flight departed Dublin Airport at 5.05pm yesterday and landed in Johannesburg shortly after 4am today (Irish time).

It’s the second charter removal operation this year and the eighth since such flights resumed in 2025.

The Journal understands that the Oyekanmi family, whose proposed deportation prompted a protest outside the Department of Justice last month and a petition signed by more than 5,000 people, were among those removed.

The family had sought permission to remain in Ireland on humanitarian grounds.

Titilayo Oluwakemi Oyekanmi and her three sons, Samuel, Joseph and Genesis, came to Ireland in late 2023 from South Africa. Their asylum application was rejected and a subsequent appeal was unsuccessful.

The family received a deportation order in April 2025.

The boys had been attending schools in Dublin, and were members of a number of local sports clubs.

Samuel, who is 18 years old, was due to sit his Leaving Certificate in June.

Glencullen-Sandyford Green Party Councillor Oisín O’Connor hit out at the Department’s “lack of compassion” in relation to the deportation of the Oyekanmi family.

“Right up until this week, the family were still involved in community activities, going to sports training,” O’Connor said.

“I saw Joseph training with his rugby team on Wednesday while my daughter was playing. Titilayo volunteers in the local parish center as well, and she would be very well known there. It’s just terrible.”

O’Connor also took aim at the Department of Justice for their “lack of consideration” for the family.

“The Department don’t want to take a more holistic look at cases like this, which might have happened in the past, where there might have been some level of compassion or uniqueness,” O’Connor said.

He also compared the public nature of the deportations to the worsening situation for illegal immigrants in the US.

“They’re trying to fly pretty close to the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) model,” O’Connor said.

“They’re more than happy to show the deportations because they’re trying to appeal to people who are against all immigration.”

In a statement yesterday evening, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan said that deportation flights are now a “routine and essential” part of immigration enforcement.

“If a person does not have a legal permission to be in the State, or has been involved in criminality, they will be removed,” O’Callaghan said, thanking gardaí and departmental officials for their work.

According to An Garda Síochána, those removed included 28 adult men, 26 adult women and nine juveniles.

Ten of the individuals had been convicted of offences in Ireland, including crimes targeted under operations against sex offenders and drug trafficking, as well as road traffic offences.

The returnees were accompanied on the flight by members of the Garda National Immigration Bureau, medical staff, an interpreter and a human rights observer.

Further charter operations are planned throughout 2026.