RSS 2.0 FeedJune 2010 vol 17, Featured Articles, UK and Europe
Ireland footballer faces deportation after asylum seeker bid fails
Oscar Sibanda, a Zimbabwean player for Shelbourne FC, fears persecution if he is forced to return to homeland
Every time Oscar Sibanda puts on his Shelbourne football shirt he knows that this could be his last match or training session for the League of Ireland side.
The 22-year-old Zimbabwean could be deported from Ireland at any time after a three-year battle to seek asylum.
On a bright summer morning Sibanda trains on the beach close to the Mosney asylum centre – a former Butlins camp that is home to 800 asylum seekers, including many young families.
Sibanda fled Zimbabwe to join his mother and siblings in Ireland. They had left Zimbabwe because their mother was a member of the opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change, and feared persecution at the hands of Robert Mugabe's regime.
"My problems here in Ireland are to do with a translator," said Sibanda. "I come from Matabeleland and the translator thought I spoke the same language as they do across the border in South Africa. He put me down on the asylum form as South African and the authorities in Dublin decided I didn't face persecution. I got out of Zimbabwe through South Africa but I left my passport behind. I had no proof I came from Zimbabwe and that my family were under threat from Mugabe's regime."
Although he has signed this season for semi-professional side Shelbourne FC, Sibanda cannot be paid by the club. Like all asylum seekers he is only entitled to €19.10 (£16) a week. "I have to pay about €10 for transport to matches and training. The other players are getting part-time wages, but I am not legally entitled to them. All I want to do is use my skills as a footballer to earn a living while I am still in my 20s, pay my taxes and be a good citizen."
Sibanda has also worked as a volunteer for Sport Against Racism Ireland and runs a team made up of immigrants named after Albert Johanneson, one of the first black players in English football. He has also been on the books of two other League of Ireland teams, Shamrock Rovers and Drogheda United. A number of former players and managers have signed a petition urging the authorities to grant Sibanda asylum. So far their pleas have failed.
While he can visit his mother, two sisters and one brother who all live legally in Drogheda, Sibanda lives on his own in Mosney. Last week he received a letter from the Department of Justice saying that he was one of more than 100 to be relocated from Mosney to Dublin.
"I will be even further away from my mother and siblings," Sibanda said. "I am in the last phase now and I know that anything can happen because the authorities can do what they like with me."
He added: "It's funny, but my dream as a footballer when I came here was that one day I might be good enough to play for Ireland. That's why I still wear the kit."
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