“A crisis has been allowed to develop and we are seeing no urgency to tackle it.”
A spokesperson from the Department of Justice has confirmed to JOE that an estimated 20 people have been refused accommodation in Direct Provision centres over the past fortnight due to an unprecedented increase in the number of people arriving in Ireland applying for international protection has increased
This follows the Irish Refugee Council stating they are “deeply concerned” that people seeking asylum are not being accommodated due to a shortage of space in the direct provision system.
“In recent months the number of people arriving in Ireland applying for international protection has increased,” the spokesperson said.
“To address this the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA)(the Department of Justice body responsible for this issue) added a net 646 beds to its portfolio over the last twelve months which included the opening of new centres in Lisdoonvarna and Moate.
“Despite these efforts, over very recent days capacity was at its limit and RIA had to prioritise accommodation for families and single females who presented and so were unable to offer immediate accommodation services to some people.
“The numbers who did not receive an offer of accommodation are relatively small and RIA is working to be in a position to rectify this in the coming days and weeks. Further efforts to provide accommodation to international protection applicants will involve the opening of new accommodation centres.”
Direct Provision centres in Ireland are offered to those in need but are not mandatory.
The department maintains that a number of applicants for international protection often do not avail of the offer of accommodation.
However, the CEO of the Irish Refugee Council, Nick Henderson refuted this, saying “The people affected were not offered alternative accommodation or given any information regarding homeless services or emergency accommodation.
“Effectively, they have been left destitute to fend for themselves on the streets. This is a clear breach of EU and Irish law.”
The Department of Justice plans to counteract this by appealing to those who may be able to help.
“We have placed an advertisement in the national media seeking additional accommodation – fully compliant with the recommendations of the McMahon report – to meet current and future demands,” the spokesperson said.
“Quite separate to this we are also engaged in an open competitive process to establish a framework of accommodation centres from which we can draw down accommodation as and when needed over the coming years.
“Over the course of the last two weekends and arising from extreme pressure on existing accommodation, we have had to defer an immediate offer of accommodation to approximately 20 persons seeking international protection in Ireland.
“In many cases, the individuals were accommodated within a few days of arrival.
“Any person identified as vulnerable (especially families) were offered accommodation and in some cases this offer was accepted. It is an extremely rare event for a person not to be offered accommodation in Ireland on arrival,” they concluded.
Figures released by the RIA have shown a steady reduction of capacity within direct provision centres since 2016.
In July 2016 capacity reached 80%. By July 2018 it was 97%.
RIA’s policy is to maintain a buffer of 10% capacity in the system in order to accommodate any sudden increase in arrivals. This 10% buffer was reached first in April 2017 and capacity has been reducing ever since.
“The situation in direct provision is made worse by the long delays which continue to make the asylum process arduous and painful for applicants,” Henderson continued.
“The average wait for an interview is 19 months.
“In July Ireland signed up to an EU law which sets down minimum requirements for accommodating people seeking asylum. It is very disappointing to see those minimum standards breached immediately by the failure to even accommodate people.
“A crisis has been allowed to develop and we are seeing no urgency to tackle it. In the meantime, the human cost is people seeking asylum are forced onto the streets.”
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