Today, protesters gathered at the Department of Justice to demand the reversal of the decision to deny visas of Gazan students awarded scholarships. The Department of Justice confirmed to the University Times last week that 103 of the 130 applications for Long-Term visas for Gazan students had been refused.
After gaining access to the building, four protesters handcuffed themselves to a door, chanting paroles such as “let them study”, while some remained on the steps of the building drawing attention to the protest.
Approximately ten minutes after the protest had started, a Gardaí van showed up at the steps of the Department of Justice, including one armed guard. They continued inside the building, asking protesters and journalists to vacate the premises, and threatening them with arrest. Ultimately Gardaí arrested the four protesters that had handcuffed themselves, and escorted them into their van.
Protesters being arrested and escorted out of the Department of Justice
The protesters brought a printed out statement outlining their demands. The statement read that the protesters would “not be moving until the decision to refuse visas for Gazan students is fully reversed”.
The protest was directed at Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Jim O’Callaghan. One protester said that they could see through the Fianna Faíl TD’s “far right agenda”, calling the demand for financial statements and gapless education “ludacris”.
Just last Tuesday, Social Rights Ireland activists had gathered at the Department of Justice to protest the denial of long-stay study visas to incoming Gazan students, as well as the deportation order for Dublin activist Sami Kupiszewski, and the lack of investigation into Irish-Israeli dual-citizens who served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
This is a developing story.
