More than 200 asylum seekers left without accommodation

More than 200 international protection applicants in Ireland are without State accommodation, according to the latest official figures.

Since December 4th, the State has been unable to provide accommodation to single men arriving into the country due to a shortage of beds.

Figures from the Department of Integration on Friday show since then, 257 recently arrived male international protection applicants have presented to the department.

Of those, a total of 229 weren’t initially offered any when they presented seeking international protection but 22 have since been offered a space. This means the number of people without accommodation currently stands at 207.

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Government last week increased weekly payment provided to asylum seekers who are not offered accommodation to a total of €113.80 per week.

Nick Henderson, chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council, criticised the supports provided to these people.

“They would be given a leaflet, and that leaflet would direct them to different services within the city,” he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.

“They would be given a voucher, that voucher is for €100 and then they would be begin the process of applying for a Personal Public Service (PPS) number.”

On receipt of a PPS number, the applicants would then be eligible to apply for the daily expenses allowance of €113.80

“We believe that this situation is in contravention of Ireland’s domestic and international European Union legal obligations to provide accommodation to international protection applicants when they arrive in Ireland,” Mr Henderson said.

Mr Henderson said at least 25 people have come into the council’s offices in the last 10 days, saying they feel “unsafe”.

“We met with one man last week who was chased, he told us that he was chased in the city and had his shoes stolen from him,” he said.

He added that the situation towards international protection applicants has deteriorated since the riots in Dublin at the end of November.

The UN refugee agency has also raised concerns about support to these people. Enda O’Neill, head of office at the agency in Ireland, said the amount of money given to asylum seekers who are not provided with accommodation “is likely to be insufficient to prevent some people being left in a situation of homelessness or destitution”.

The State is providing accommodation for around 100,000 people, including some 75,000 people from Ukraine and more than 25,800 asylum seekers from elsewhere.

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