Homeless male asylum seekers who had been brought from a makeshift camp in Dublin city centre to a site 20km away in Co Dublin on Saturday morning began arriving back to find their tents and belongings cleared in the afternoon.
By mid-afternoon, as rugby fans passed the International Protection Office (IPO) site at Mount Street, en route to the Aviva Stadium, about a dozen men had returned. One told The Irish Times he had a doctor appointment on Tuesday in the city centre, and that the Crooksling site was “very bad, very cold”.
The men The Irish Times spoke to were initially happy to move on from the Mount Street camp, which had become unhygienic in recent weeks. However, they were not provided with accommodation, instead being given tents and told to pitch “anywhere you want on the mountain” after arrival at the site near Saggart in southwest Co Dublin.
From before 8am the camp outside the IPO began to be cleared of up to 200 men who had been sleeping rough there, as staff from International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) arrived at the camp, woke men in their tents and told them to pack up.
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By 8.30am, six coaches were parked on Mount Street Lower, and men started boarding them with what belongings they could pack. Shortly after 9am, all coaches had left. By 10.30am, contract cleaners were on-site preparing to clear the tents.
The men were offered accommodation in tents at Crooksling in southwest Dublin, according to a statement by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.
None of the men who spoke to The Irish Times at about 8.45am knew where they were going. In driving rain, they said, however, they were “very happy” to be leaving. One man, packing shoes and jumpers into a plastic bag, said: “We were in bed and they called us. They didn’t tell us where we go.” Asked if he was pleased to be leaving he said: “Yeah. Happy.”
Up to eight IPAS staff continued to check tents as men boarded the buses. They would not say where the coaches were going. One of the coach drivers, when asked, said: “Saggart”.
By midday, messages were sent by some of the men who had arrived at Crooksling to volunteers who had been helping them at the IPO, saying they had been given tents on arrival and told to pitch them “anywhere you want on the mountain”.
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One man said in a message: “We raised our concerns to the female from IPAS and she told that she didn’t have any other options. All of the refugees protest and they told us to to go back if you want to, but our tent in the Dublin centre has been destroyed.”
He continued: “We are coming back. We are on the foot to Dublin. We are fasting. We are thirsty, hungry because we don’t have any food in the morning as well... It will take about five hours.”
As information about the removal of the men to Crooksling circulated on social media, a number of protesters arrived at the entrance to the site, filming and following men as they left. Gardaí were present.
At lunchtime, two large trucks with hydraulic arms, or grabbers, were at the IPO, lifting and destroying pop-up tents which were being taken away along with clothing, food and large amounts of rubbish that had accumulated. A makeshift toilet area down a laneway had not yet been dealt with.
A number of gardaí were on hand watching, and the last of the people who had been living in the tents were being collected by IPAS staff and taken away on buses.
The IPO area was being swept and hosed by contract cleaners and Dublin City Council staff. Other asylum seekers were understood to be in Tallaght waiting to travel by public transport to the city centre.
Though male asylum seekers have been living in tents around the IPO since December as IPAS announced on December 4th it could not provide accommodation to male asylum seekers, the Department of Children and Integration has come under increasing pressure in the past week as conditions became unbearable and illness spread among the men.
They have had no access to toilets, running water or refuse collection. With the start of Ramadan in the past few days, many were finding it difficult to access fresh food after sundown. As of Friday, according to IPAS, there were 1,308 male asylum seekers “awaiting offer of accommodation”.
In a statement, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, which is responsible for International Protection applicants, said it had offered “alternative shelter” to all camped at Mount Street.
“All those who accepted the offer will be provided tented accommodation at a site in Crooksling, where food, personal toiletries, toilet and shower facilities are also available. The department will engage with HSE and healthcare providers in order to ensure the wellbeing of those on site,” it said.
It said the situation in relation to accommodation remains very challenging, and that families were being prioritised where accommodation became available.
“Since January, approximately 2,400 beds have been brought into use for those seeking accommodation,” it added.
Fianna Fáil Senator Mary Fitzpatrick said it is “completely unacceptable” for anyone coming to Ireland seeking asylum or refuge to be accommodated in a tent on the side of a street.
In an interview with Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin, Senator Fitzpatrick said a move to properly accommodate hundreds of applicants for international protection who have been camping in Mount Street in central Dublin would be welcomed.
However, she stressed that the use of alternative tented accommodation in Crooksling, Co Dublin, was not an acceptable solution.
“It can’t be that they have just moved them because there is a parade coming through town tomorrow. That is unacceptable.
“It [the alternative tented site] is not good for them individually. It is not safe. It is not healthy. It is completely unacceptable.
“I am glad to see some action, but it cannot be until Monday morning. That is not a solution.”
Sinn Féin TD for Carlow-Kilkenny Kathleen Funchion told the programme that it was “no coincidence” that people in tents were moved out of the city centre to coincide with the St Patrick’s Day festivities.
“There will be a huge focus on the parade and everything that happens in the city tomorrow, and now all of a sudden another temporary situation (springs up). It is totally chaos and total disorganisation. The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.”
Marian Harkin, Independent TD for Sligo-Leitrim, was also interviewed on the show. Ms Harkin said we have to be “humane and decent”, but that equally we can only “stretch the elastic so far”.
“We have to manage the situation the best we can and we can do better, but to say that we can accommodate all of those people who come from Ukraine plus all of those people who come for international protection... it is not possible.”
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