Shepherd Machaya, the Dublin City University (DCU) student who faces deportation, has had his deportation order extended until March 21st.
The College View reported that the second-year student, who is originally from Zimbabwe, has had his deportation delayed again.
Speaking to the College View, DCU Students’ Union (DCUSU) President Vito Moloney Burke said: “If we don’t get the right response from this proposal to the Department, there very much will be a large scale campaign again, online and on the ground.”
“If there needs to be, there will be war over this”, Moloney Burke said.
A petition was launched in October calling for the cancellation of Machaya’s deportation. The petition reached over 6,000 signatures. “Should he be deported, he will be faced with the threat of torture from local ‘political’ groups, the very people who drove him out of the country nine years ago. He will not be safe”, the statement accompanying the DCUSU petition reads.
In a video released by DCUSU, Machaya explained the political situation that led to him fleeing Zimbabwe. “Ireland to me has become my second home. This is the only place I know other than Zimbabwe”, Machaya said. “My life is still in danger if I go back.”
The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) joined calls for the deportation order to be reversed. In a press statement, USI President Síona Cahill said: ““Pulling any student from their studies is unjust, pulling a man from a country where he calls home only to be sent back to where he courageously left due to life threatening circumstances is barbaric and downright immoral.”
“The national student movement stands behind Shepherd and will be actively campaigning on his behalf alongside DCU Students’ Union to keep him in Ireland. Shepherd Machaya has been a positive influence in Irish society since his arrival, entering Higher Education through the University of Sanctuary scheme for refugees in order to better his quality of life. He must be allowed to stay on this island”, she said.
