The Brazilian woman who was jailed overnight after being stopped by immigration officials at Dublin Airport last week does not know whether the initial refusal to allow her to enter Ireland will be placed on her record, according to the family she is staying with.
Paloma Aparezida Silva-Carvalho (24) was stopped at Dublin Airport last Tuesday afternoon when she arrived from a visit to her fiance in Switzerland. She was planning to visit the Müller-Wieland family in Moycullen, Co Galway, for whom she had worked as an au pair between March 2015 and September 2016.
She was detained by Garda immigration officers last Tuesday and taken to the Dóchas women’s centre in Mountjoy Prison to be held until the next available flight to Basle at 3am on Thursday.
Despite the rejection of a habeas corpus application on her behalf at the High Court on Wednesday evening, she was released from Mountjoy at about 10pm that day and given permission to stay in Ireland for 10 days. Her passport was confiscated.
Seeking clarity
Karin Müller-Wieland said she had been seeking clarity about where Ms Carvalho should fly when leaving Ireland on August 2nd but had heard nothing back.
She said Ms Carvalho does not know whether she will have to return to Basle, Switzerland – from where she had flown to Dublin last Tuesday – or whether she can go to Portugal and on to Brazil.
“It’s unclear and we are really worried because there may be no seats left on the flight to Basle on the 2nd. We need to book a flight. And it’s also unclear whether the deportation will be on her record. Will it cause her problems travelling in the future?
“The level of stress all this is causing all of us, and she didn’t do anything wrong. At this stage Paloma is so upset she doesn’t think she will ever want to return to Ireland. She is really traumatised.
“She was getting recognised and felt people were sniggering at her. So we have come to another part of Ireland to get some peace. I am waking up in a panic every morning.”
A spokesman for An Garda Síochána said: "We cannot comment on or speculate on the possible outcome of a case involving a named individual."
A spokesman said the Department of Justice “does not comment on individual cases but urges anyone unsure of their status to get in contact with the relevant officials to obtain clarification. In this regard, contact has been made with Ms Carvalho via the Müller-Wielands to advise her of this.”
