Justice Minister urged to block Athlone couple's deportation

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan is being urged to revoke deportation orders set to be enacted against two Athlone IT students on Thursday of next week, March 19.

AIT Students' Union has written to Minister Flanagan seeking him to intervene in the case of husband and wife Azwidohwi David Nesengani and Fortunate Nesengani.
The letter, signed by the President Aine Daly, Deputy President John Devine and Vice-President Mary Doyle, says the deportation orders “will put their lives in danger and at a minimum drastically affect their quality of lives.”
AIT chaplain Fr Shay Casey has also thrown his support behind the campaign, urging people to sign a petition online asking for the couple to be allowed remain in Ireland, where they have been since 2016.
Azwidohwi David Nesengani is a second year student studying BA Applied Social Studies in Social Care in AIT, successfully passing first year with high marks. 
His wife Fortunate is an an Access Student who has come through AIT on the Sanctuary Scheme which grants scholarships to refugees. She has also completed further studies of a Level 5 in Pre Nursing, Level 6 in First Aid Response and Community Development at Moate Business School. 
He has shown that he is an active engaged student previously completing QQI Level 5- Health Service skills in Moate Business College from 2017/2018. 
He has also completed several workshops with REGARI Recovery College and has dedicated much of his time in contributing to community initiatives and volunteering with non-profit organisations.
Fortunate is an active member of the church teaching Sunday school and contributing meaningfully to the community of Lissywollen Direct Provision and Athlone as a whole.
Minister Flanagan is believed to have met Fortunate on December 18 and thanked her for her work in organising the funeral of a friend who died in Direct Provision.
It's understood both have been refused refugee status and also subsidiary protection.
According to AIT Students' Union, Fortunate had to flee Zimbabwe as a child to avoid recruitment to the Zimbabwe Liberation army. 
When she married David she faced xenophobia from the community experiencing beatings and her house being burned by a mob. David has also experienced xenophobic attacks from the community with his house being burned. 
The AIT Students' Union letter says: “This couple encompass everything that that we as Irish citizens strive to embody. There are resilient, compassionate and extremely brave and are here to better themselves and the wider community. Such giving, courageous and hardworking members of our community should not be deported from our country but encouraged. 
“As a Minster, who has shown compassion and generosity in the past we urge you to please support our plea and keep our students in AIT. It is evident that their safety cannot be guaranteed if returned to South Africa and all they have done as individuals and a couple to better themselves and the community in Athlone and AIT should not be discarded but protected. 
In a statement, MASI (The Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland) said it was shocked to learn about the deportation order issued to Fortunate and her husband David.
"We understand that their home was burned down in South Africa before they fled and the Irish government knows this. What does Minister Charlie Flanagan expect David and Fortunate to return to? They have spent years in appalling conditions in Direct Provision, being stripped of their autonomy only to be served with a deportation order. That is simply cruel."
An online petition can be signed at: https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/let-david-and-fortunate-stay-in-ireland