Ireland has expelled 24 Romanians convicted of crimes, banning them from returning for up to 10 years

Raluca Ioana Draghici

19 October 2026, 07:17

Diaspora

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Irish authorities deported 24 Romanian nationals convicted of offenses on Sunday; they were banned from returning to Ireland for periods of up to 10 years. The special aircraft departed from Dublin Airport at 16:25 local time and landed in Bucharest at 22:00 Romanian time.

The 24 men, aged between 24 and 57, had been convicted of offenses including burglaries, domestic violence, sexual assaults, drug trafficking, and crimes associated with organized crime. Eighteen of them were taken directly from Irish prisons, while the other six were arrested and detained pending deportation.

Irish police officers, medical personnel, interpreters, and a human rights compliance observer were on board. The measure is permitted under European Union legislation on free movement where a person is considered a serious threat to public safety or public order.

Secretary of State Colm Brophy emphasized that the majority of Romanians in Ireland obey the law and contribute to society. In 2026, Ireland organized seven special flights and deported 245 people, 91 of whom were EU citizens.

Context: Romania targeted in several cases of expulsions in the EU, amid convictions for crimes

Before the expulsion from Ireland, authorities in other European states had ordered similar measures against Romanian citizens. In Italy, ten Romanians were issued expulsion orders from the country, with criminal records for offenses such as theft and fraud being cited, and their return was banned for a period of five years.

Convictions that formed the basis for removal measures were also reported in other cases across Europe. In Switzerland, a Romanian man was convicted and expelled for five years after a violent incident at a party, while in the United Kingdom another Romanian national received a 27-year sentence for murder following an altercation that began over a minor dispute.

At the same time, there have also been crime-fighting operations involving Romanians. British police dismantled a gang of thieves that committed hundreds of burglaries in newly built homes, while German authorities carried out checks related to possible welfare fraud and abusive rents in a building where several Romanian citizens were officially registered.