'We came here for safety'

Community rallies behind family facing deportation

Shamielah Masood and her family endured armed robberies, threats and constant fear for their children’s safety in South Africa. Now, after building a new life in Ireland, they face the prospect of being deported back to the country they fled.

Shamielah physically shudders at the memory of life before arriving in Ireland three years ago. In the months before fleeing South Africa via Dubai to Dublin, she began keeping a sword beside her driver’s seat during school runs after her car and children had been targeted amid growing anti-immigrant tensions.

Recent incidents of violence during protests in Soweto, outside Johannesburg, and Durban, on South Africa’s east coast, have done little to ease her fears of returning.

Nearly two weeks ago, Shamielah and her husband, Abid, received a letter informing them they must leave by October 29, which notes that Ireland designates South Africa a safe country of origin for asylum applicants.

The deadline has plunged the family into renewed anxiety, and their two young children asked their mother the heartbreaking question: “Mommy, we don’t want to go back. What can we do?”

The Masoods’ plight has struck a chord in Kilnaleck, Co Cavan, where they first lived, and Ballinamore, Co Leitrim, where they now reside in IPAS accommodation. In both communities, the family have made friends, joined GAA clubs and built connections through schools and neighbours.

Those who know the family see them not simply as international protection applicants, but as people who contribute to the respective communities.

Shamielah and Abid worked hard to support themselves in South Africa. Shamielah ran a coffee shop and bakery in Cape Town, while Abid operated mobile-phone and grocery businesses.

But repeated attacks turned their lives into a cycle of fear. Abid was attacked five times, and his shop was repeatedly broken into and robbed.

On one occasion, the violence escalated dramatically. “They tied him up, kicked him and wanted to shoot him,” Shamielah recalls.

She says two police officers passed during the robbery but were ordered to leave. Although a report was subsequently made, the Masoods believe no meaningful investigation followed.

The fear eventually reached into every aspect of family life. After dropping her children at school one morning, Shamielah was at work when she got a call that a female pupil had been kidnapped.

“That was the final straw,” she tells the Celt. “I might be able to endure the fear myself, but I could not allow my children to grow up in it.”

In March 2023, Shamielah, Abid and their children arrived in Dublin, leaving behind their home, businesses and all possessions. In hindsight Shamielah believes they might have secured work permits, but their unfamiliarity with the system led them to seek international protection instead.

She expected to claim asylum, rent a home and find work. Instead, the family entered a system marked by endless restrictions and uncertainty while their application was considered.

“I did not come to Ireland as a criminal,” says Shamielah. “But the process is such that we have been made to feel like that.”

Shamielah and her family submitted extensive evidence of their experiences living in South Africa, including police reports, case numbers, photographs and other documents. She remains distressed that the country’s general designation as “safe” is completely at odds with the terrifying circumstances they endured.

She also raises concerns about her asylum process here in Ireland, explaining how had to “repeat” herself several times to an interviewer who, in turn, required the assistance of another interpreter because they struggled to understand Abid’s English pronunciation.

“I understand that a country may be regarded as safe in general, but I am asking people to look at what happened to our family,” pleads Shamielah.

Since receiving the deportation letter, the Masoods have pursued further legal steps, but in the meantime must sign monthly in Dublin until the government can charter a full plane to fly to South Africa.

Yet throughout the uncertainty, Shamielah has continued volunteering at Súil Eile, a community-run café in Kilnaleck, travelling from Ballinamore each day to help the business tick over.

When café co-founder Eugene Farrelly’s late wife, Monica, fell ill, Shamielah stepped in. More recently, when Eugene appealed for volunteers to prevent the café from closing, Shamielah was among the first to respond to the call.

Eugene is among dozens who have written to the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) and Department of Justice, urging it to reconsider the family’s case. When The Celt visits Súil Eile to speak with Shamielah, there is no shortage of people willing to extol her virtues and speak to the valuable contribution she continues to make to community life.

“One in a million,” says Richard, sipping a cup of coffee.

For Shamielah, volunteering is a way to give back to a place that so warmly welcomed her family.

“I want to contribute,” says Shamielah, who also recently qualified as a healthcare assistant.

Abid, meanwhile, volunteers with Cavan General Hospital and Tusla when opportunities arise.

“We are not here because we want handouts,” states Shamielah. “I came here to find safety for my children and to build a new life. We came here with nothing. But we have found friends, made new lives for ourselves.”

Shamielah acknowledges that immigration remains a contentious issue in Ireland, but hopes people can look beyond general assumptions about those seeking protection.

“If I were granted permission to stay tomorrow, I want to rent a place of our own, get a job, to pay our way,” she says. “I want to be independent.”

Five of Abid's close friends have been killed in South Africa since the family fled in 2023. Shamielah fears deportation would expose her family to those same dangers they escaped.

“I want our children to grow up feeling safe,” she says. “We came here looking for safety and a better future for our children. That is all we have ever wanted.”

'Leave the State'

Asked for a comment in relation to Shamielah Masood and her family's case, the Department of Justice said it "cannot comment on individual cases".

However, the following statement was provided in general terms: 'A deportation order is a legal requirement to leave the State and is made following a full assessment of a person's individual circumstances. A decision to make a deportation order will only be taken after a fair and comprehensive examination of all the facts and circumstances of the individual case has been conducted.

'Any such decision will be made in accordance with immigration legislation and will include consideration of any relevant constitutional rights and rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.'

It continues by saying that the Department aims to process families in a "holistic manner".

The Immigration Act 1999 provides that a deporation order may be revoked.

'Consideration is given to whether there is compelling new information or material changes in circumstances' since the original decision was made.

This does not suspend the enforcement of a deportation order and an individual can still be deported.