Ireland changed deportation flight menus after pork sausages served to Muslim detainees

Ireland’s air charter contractor revised its in-flight catering procedures after a government-appointed human rights monitor flagged that a deportation flight to Pakistan had served pork sausages — prohibited under Islamic dietary law — to 24 Muslim men being removed from the country.

The first chartered deportation flight, which transported 24 men to Pakistan on Sept. 23, 2025, was accompanied by a human rights monitor appointed by the Department of Justice, along with gardai, a doctor and an interpreter. A series of monitoring reports was later obtained by The Irish Times following a Freedom of Information appeal after the department initially refused to release them.

Garda feedback on the meals served during the flight noted that food quality fell below expectations and that including pork sausages in a Full Irish breakfast was “inappropriate.” The monitor understood halal food would be available but said it was “not specified in the flight brief.” Following the report, aviation company Air Partner, which operates Ireland’s deportation flights, changed the catering menu for future operations.

The Pakistan flight cost approximately €473,000 — nearly €20,000 per person — and was accompanied by 79 gardai, making it the most expensive single charter deportation operation Ireland conducted in 2025.

Two of the 24 men had been assessed as high risk before departure, one due to previous criminal offending and another because of behavior in prison. As the group boarded, one man became concerned that a garda was filming him with a mobile phone; he was persuaded to board after it was confirmed recording was taking place.

Shortly after landing in Islamabad, two deportees returned to the aircraft in an agitated state — one had not received his mobile phone and the other was missing his luggage. Both items were in the custody of the Garda team, which had received them from the Irish Prison Service, and the men were told their belongings would be returned. The monitoring reports noted that unreturned belongings were a recurring issue across multiple flights.

The Pakistan flight was part of a sharply accelerating Irish deportation program. Ireland spent more than €2.8 million on deportation flights in 2025. Six charter flights removed 205 people at a combined charter cost of nearly €1.3 million, while a further €1.5 million was spent on commercial airline seats for individual removals. The number of deportation orders signed in 2025 nearly doubled to 4,700, and confirmed departures under deportation orders rose 88% to 2,111.

A separate November 2025 flight to Georgia returned 52 people — 35 men, seven women and three families including children as young as five months — escorted by 113 gardai and two support staff. On that flight, a man who had been demanding access to his phone, which had been stowed in the aircraft hold, was restrained, handcuffed and carried onto the plane after refusing to board voluntarily.

The department noted that overall, the deportation operations were judged to have been conducted humanely and with respect for the rights and dignity of those being removed, according to the monitoring reports obtained by The Irish Times.