Former Guantánamo Bay Detainees Granted Leave to Remain

The Irish Times reports today that two Uzbek nationals who had been detained in Guantánamo Bay for seven years but who were found not to be a threat to national or international security have now arrived in Ireland. The former detainees could not be returned to their own countries of origin as there was a real risk that they would be subjected to persecution there. The former detainees have been granted leave to remain by the Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern (right).

As a legal status, leave to remain is normally granted where someone has been unsuccessful in an asylum application but there are humanitarian reasons for not returning the person to their country of origin. This is provided for under s. 17 of the Refugee Act 1996. However, leave to remain can be granted in broader circumstances than this as it is a discretionary status. Recently a large number of people have been granted leave to remain on the basis of their being the parents of Irish born children, for example.