Reports that ICE deportation flights carrying Palestinians to Isreal are using Shannon Airport to refuel are deeply disturbing, according to Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson.<\/p>\n
Senator Stephenson said:<\/p>\n
\u201cDetails of these deportations describe Palestinians as having their ankles shackled as they are flown across the world to be abandoned in an apartheid state.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of those deported have families, jobs and entire lives in the US after having lived there for years – they\u2019re now being flown back to an active conflict zone in which Israel continues to commit genocide and ethnic cleansing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis obscenity is a violation of their human rights and is being facilitated by Shannon Airport, and therefore the Irish State and its government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe coalition must make a statement on whether it knowingly facilitated these flights, or if the fact it is facilitating human rights abuses is unbeknownst to them – it is complicit in this crime either way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government must now answer serious questions regarding whether they view this action as a breach of international law, and what action they will take to take control of the situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot allow our so-called special relationship with the US to blind us to human rights and international law violations.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid the Irish authorities know that shackled deportees touched down on Irish soil? If they did, what correspondence was made with the government, and if they did not, have they lost control of their own jurisdiction when it comes to US actions?<\/p>\n
\u201cThose who were deported were dropped off at a checkpoint in the West Bank after prolonged detention in ICE facilities – this might be the chosen modus operandi of the Trump regime, but the Irish people utterly reject these actions as permissible.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government claims it is a staunch supporter of international law, a beacon of hope when it comes to upholding human rights – it must now explain its hypocrisy.\u201d<\/p>\n
February 6th, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Reports that ICE deportation flights carrying Palestinians to Isreal are using Shannon Airport to refuel are deeply disturbing, according to Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson. Senator Stephenson said: \u201cDetails of these deportations describe Palestinians as having their ankles shackled as they are flown across the world to be abandoned in an apartheid state. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14727,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[738,641,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-palestine","category-patricia-stephenson","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n