Mauritian nationals on passport charges

TWO Mauritian nationals found themselves before the District Court in Gorey last week, charged with remaining in the state after the date that was set for their departure and failing to produce documents.

The first man, Shakeel Fayjun (42), told the court that he was homeless and slept on the streets and in hostels in Dublin. Garda Carol Doyle told the court she had stopped Fayjun on the Main Street in Camolin on October 14 of last year. She told the court that Fayjun had told her that he was a Pakistani national, but later under cross-examination conceded that there would have been no benefit to him telling her this.

She requested that he produce his passport and he informed her that he did not have one with him.

Upon carrying out enquiries, Garda Doyle found that Fayjun was a Mauritian national who had entered the state in 2006 on a student visa and who had been due to depart on May 6, 2007.

From the witness box, Fayjun told the court that he had been living on the streets and that the reason he did not have his passport on him was because he was afraid it would get damaged in the rain or stolen. For this reason, he said, he left it with a friend.

A barrister speaking on behalf of Fayjun said that an application had been made for humanitarian leave for him to stay in the country in 2010 and he had been granted status four in recent weeks.

In relation to the charge of remaining in the jurisdiction beyond his departure date, Fayjun’s barrister was able to find a loophole which stated that he could not be convicted as he arrived into the state by a flight into Dublin airport. This charge was dismissed, however, Judge Haughton convicted him on the charge of not producing a passport.

‘I would’ve thought the fact that he is homeless would have made it more important for him to carry his passport to identify himself,’ said Judge Haughton, before giving the former English student the benefit of the Probation Act Section 1.2.

Fellow Mauritian national Ishaan Jawaran (29) of Apt 2 St Joseph’s, Wygram Place, Wexford, was similarly stopped at the Main Street in Camolin on October 14 of last year and was charged with remaining in the state beyond his departure date and failing to produce a registration certificate in conjunction with Article 15 of the Aliens Act.

The court heard that Jawaran arrived in the country as a student in January 2009 and was due to leave on February 7, 2011. Once again, the barrister made an application for the charge of remaining in the state to be dismissed on the same grounds as the previous defendant and was successful.

In relation to the other charge, she pointed out that her client had produced his Mauritian passport and that this was enough to establish his identity and nationality. She said that her client had also made an application to remain in the state on the grounds that he is the father to an Irish born child.

In Jawaran’s case Judge Haughton opted to dismiss both charges.