The Irish Refugee Council has voiced “deep concern” about the difficulties confronting asylum seekers without accommodation in Ireland, arguing that the existing approach is “dangerous”.
In correspondence sent to Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan, the organisation’s chief executive Nick Henderson outlined how around 20 individuals attempted to sleep outdoors “in one of the only remaining parts of the city that volunteers think is the least dangerous”, reports RTE.
“They were moved on by gardaà who told them to go back to the airport and leave the country. This morning having gone to a service for some food, they were told to go back to the place that the gardaà told them to leave,” he said, reports RTE.
Mr Henderson continued: “This current policy, that requires men to sleep rough to demonstrate need for accommodation, is dangerous, undermines trust in our asylum procedures, increases pressure on already stretched charities, and puts significant strain and risk on the volunteers who have been assisting people for three years,” reports RTE.
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“It is particularly concerning that this persists when there are beds within the IPAS system,” he said, reports RTE.
The Social Democrats’ housing spokesperson Rory Hearne criticised how asylum seekers are being treated, reports RTE.
He said: “It is wrong for the Irish state to be treating people in this inhumane way. They are human beings – brothers, fathers, sons, mothers, daughters – they cannot and should not be left on the streets shelterless. There are still huge numbers of empty State buildings that could be temporarily refurbished to provide shelter to these vulnerable people,” he concluded, reports RTE.
The Labour Party’s housing spokesperson Conor Sheehan agreed with the Irish Refugee Council’s analysis.
“This is a dangerous and inhumane way to treat way to treat vulnerable people many of whom have arrived here fleeing war and persecution,” he said, reports RTE.
“Minister O’Callaghan boasted after the budget about reducing the IPAS Budget yet the result of that is people being put in danger on the streets. There is capacity in the IPAS system and these men should be accommodated using that capacity. There will be plenty of hand wringing if someone dies sleeping on the streets but that is an inevitability if this continues,” reports RTE.
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