PLUS (Please Let Us Stay) Campaign for young asylum seekers (arriving before 2005 as teen-agers, unaccompanied by a parent or guardian and since then reaching 18 years old i.e. becoming "aged out") whose applications for 'leave to remain' on humanitarian grounds are pending.

The DRP is assisting a group of young asylum seekers (single "aged out" unaccompanied minors) who in 2005 made a submission to the Minister for Justice urging that they be given leave to remain on humanitarian grounds.

When these young people arrived in Ireland, most of them were aged 16 years or less and so have spent an important and formative part of their lives in this country. The applications for refugee status made by individuals in this group were refused. Some have spent five years or more waiting for a final decision on granting leave to remain on humanitarian grounds.

To send these young people back to major cities such as Conakry (Guinea), Freetown (Sierra Leone), Harare (Zimbabwe), Kinshasa (DRCongo), Kigali (Rwanda), Lagos (Nigeria), Luanda (Angola), Mogadishu (Somalia) where conditions are harsh and dangerous and where in general they have no contacts, family or friends, would be to subject them to extreme hardship. They accordingly asked for leave to remain in Ireland with the opportunity to continue their education, contribute their skills and energy to the Irish economy and build their lives. It is estimated that asylum seekers in this category number not more than 250 in total.

For the text of the Plus Appeal Submission, please click on Read More.

Organisations Supporting The P + L + U + S - Campaign