Emma DeSouza
Emma DeSouza, is a citizens rights campaigner, writer and public speaker who rose to prominence after she and her husband Jake DeSouza took a high profile case.[1] against the British Home Office. The case, which began in 2015, concerned the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement[2] and EU citizenship rights[3].
The action was taken by DeSouza when the British Home Office refused an application for an EEA residence card for her US spouse Jake DeSouza. The application was denied on the grounds that the Home Office considered Emma DeSouza to be a British citizen, under the British nationality act 1981 and as a British citizen she could not avail of EU citizenship rights in the UK. However, DeSouza argued that the Good Friday Agreement provided her with a right to be accepted as Irish and she had only ever held an Irish passport and identified as Irish.
The case was cited as the first human rights case of the Good Friday Agreement and drew widespread support, including the Irish government[4] and members of the US Congress[5]. The British Home Office was widely condemned[6] for pursuing the case which raised concerns as to the British governments commitment to the Good Friday Agreement[7]
In May 2020 the British Home Office announced[8] it was amending domestic UK immigration rules to include, "a relevant person of Northern Ireland"[9]
This change in law was credited[10] to the case and subsequent campaign of DeSouza who announced that these changes remedied their ongoing legal action.
The changes to domestic UK set a precedent for recognition of the birthright of the people of Northern Ireland to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish or British or both, as agreed under the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
These changes provide more favourable family reunion rights[11] to the people of Northern Ireland in the context of Brexit.
In May 2020 DeSouza announced that she had formally withdrawn from the courts but would be continuing the WeAreIrishToo[12] campaign that she founded with her husband Jake DeSouza.
In that same month it was speculated that she was under consideration[13] for a nomination to Seanad Eireann by the Taoiseach.
DeSouza signed with literary agent Robert Caskie[14] in June 2020 and has become a regular contributor at a number of publications including the Irish Times[15], the Irish News[16], Euronews[17] and the Journal.ie[18]
She joined the campaign for the extension of presidential voting rights for Irish citizens abroad in June 2020 as the vice-chair and Northern Ireland spokesperson[19] for votingrights.ie[20]
References
- ↑ https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/explainer-what-is-the-emma-desouza-case-about-1.4051238?mode=amp
- ↑ https://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/today/good_friday/full_text.html
- ↑ https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/eu-citizenship_en
- ↑ https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/desouza-campaign-over-irish-citizenship-receives-warm-welcome-in-washington-dc-39039399.html
- ↑ https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/emma-desouza-seeks-us-support-for-her-case-against-british-government-1.4162363?mode=amp
- ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-50060229
- ↑ https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/staggers/2019/10/what-does-emma-de-souza-ruling-mean-irish-only-citizens-northern-ireland
- ↑ https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-rules-statement-of-changes
- ↑ https://www.freemovement.org.uk/people-born-in-northern-ireland-get-improved-family-reunion-rights/
- ↑ https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/northern-ireland-born-british-and-irish-win-eu-citizenship-rights-1.4253692?mode=amp
- ↑ https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/v7gbwd/northern-ireland-citizens-still-part-of-eu
- ↑ https://www.weareirishtoo.com/
- ↑ https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland/irish-citizenship-campaigner-emma-desouza-seeks-nomination-to-seanad-39283486.html
- ↑ https://www.robertcaskie.com/emma-desouza
- ↑ https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/britain-fails-yet-again-to-take-ireland-into-account-1.4329590?mode=amp
- ↑ https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2020/06/15/news/platform---emma-desouza-1973908/
- ↑ https://www.euronews.com/2020/02/19/in-brexit-britain-northern-ireland-must-again-turn-to-the-us-to-uphold-our-rights-view
- ↑ https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/john-hume-good-friday-agreement-5167666-Aug2020/
- ↑ https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/emma-de-souza-appointed-vice-chairwoman-of-voting-rights-body-1.4310644?mode=amp
- ↑ https://votingrights.ie/
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