DUBLIN: International students fly to Ireland dreaming of a bright future with high hopes and years of waiting. But are they arriving to a place where they are totally safeguarded in order to attain the future they desire? Recent incidents in the country, particularly in Dublin, raise such concerns in everyone’s mind.
Many international students, including Indians, have been the victims of numerous acts of violence in Ireland in recent years. The most recent incident was when Anjali Sharma and her friend were attacked by a group of teenagers in St. Stephens Green Park.
Anjali Sharma and a friend were visiting St Stephen’s Green around 8:30 pm on Monday. As the two were walking, one of the gang members pushed her friend from behind, took his earphones, and then started punching him. Things got worse when another gang member pulled Anjali’s backpack and threw a can straight into her eye as she turned. “I started crying and yelling because I couldn’t see anything. It felt like my eye was gone. I wasn’t able to see for almost half an hour,” she told to Dublin Live. Anjali was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with retinal bruises that would require some weeks to heal.
Ambarish Kumar Sonbhadra and Prince Kumar Singh, both former Masters students in International Business Management at Griffith College, were attacked by vicious young thugs as little as 10 years old. Mr Sonbhadra needed stitches in his head after one of the children threw a bicycle lock at him.
In February 2019, a Deliveroo courier named Francisco Teruliano de Oliviera Neto was beaten with a baseball bat and robbed by up to 11 guys in Finglas, northwest Dublin. His injuries were so severe that he had to return to Brazil following the incident.
Thiago Cortes, another Deliveroo employee, was killed in August 2020 after he was attacked by a group of youths while on the job in Dublin’s East Wall area. He’d just been at the firm for ten days to save enough for his wedding.
Josh Dunne, a 16-year-old Dubliner, was stabbed on East Road in East Wall on January night this year and died as a result of his injuries. He is believed to have been defending a delivery guy who was being attacked by a young rowdy gang on the road.
The events listed above are just a few examples; many such crimes go unreported or without evidence.
A day ago, an online petition titled “Justice for Anjali & Other International Students” was created to bring the ongoing violence against international students in the country to the attention of the Minister of Justice and the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.
The petition started by Shashank Chakerwarti has already received over 1300 signatures, and the organisers are urging more people to sign in order for it to be picked up by local news and reach authorities.
“I am not asking that the state penalise the youth because an eye for an eye will make the whole world go blind, but it is imperative that our Republic create a just environment for everyone, regardless of their origins or backgrounds,” said organiser Mr Chakerwarti.
Kindly visit the following link for more information about the online petition and to sign it.
https://www.change.org/p/minister-for-justice-security-of-international-students?redirect=false
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