Lone parents and children should be exempt from direct provision evictions, says charity

A number of women and children who have asylum status, but who are still living in international protection housing, have been “left in limbo” after receiving letters stating they must leave their accommodation.

ActionAid has accused the Government of creating “confusion” over its plan to “evict mothers and children” and said people had been “devastated” by the letters.

The chances of getting private accommodation “were almost impossible” and the only other option facing many lone parents was to move to “emergency accommodation away from their networks and children’s schools”, said the charity.

The Department of Integration has sent 3,004 letters since September 2022 to those granted permission to remain in Ireland, but who have not yet secured private housing, requesting that they seek alternative accommodation.

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However, concerns have been raised since families, including lone parents, started receiving requests to leave their housing.

In May, a number of these families received letters stating individuals must “move to independent alternative accommodation in the community on Friday, 5th July 2024″.

The latest letters warned of an “urgent need” for accommodation to meet the State’s legal obligation to house people still seeking international protection.

“If you have been unsuccessful in sourcing alternative accommodation by 05/07/2024, IPAS (International Protection Accommodation Services) will provide alternative temporary emergency accommodation,” the letter stated.

However, according to ActionAid, a direct-provision centre manager in Wicklow received a call on Wednesday from IPAS saying some female residents would not be transferred “because there is no space in emergency accommodation”.

On Thursday, it remained unclear where the women would go.

The charity has called on the Government to add parents and children to the group exempt from eviction, which currently includes people aged over 65 and those with significant medical or welfare needs.

“It is simply not acceptable to ask vulnerable women and children to be out of their accommodation,” said ActionAid chief executive Karol Balfe. “For years they have tried to integrate into their communities through their schools and local sports clubs, and they are heartbroken at the prospect of facing another move to an unknown place.”

Ms Balfe noted several examples of landlords “extorting” people who are trying to leave direct provision “because they know they are desperate”.

The Department of Integration has said it is contacting those with “status for the greatest length of time” which includes single people or couples with status for more than nine months and families with status for more than 18 months.

Some 31,000 people are currently living in international protection accommodation, including 5,700 with permission to remain in the country. Some 2,228 newly arrived international protection applicants are currently homeless, according to the latest Government data.

A department spokeswoman said that when a person receives refugee status or permission to remain, the Government “no longer has a legal requirement to provide accommodation,” as they have the same housing entitlements as Irish citizens.

However, IPAS has continued to provide accommodation until residents can secure their own housing, she said, adding that those with status who cannot find housing are given “temporary, emergency accommodation” but are not left homeless.

A report published by the Economic and Social Research Institute last month found people with permission to stay in Ireland, but who were still living in direct provision, faced “significant challenges and barriers” in trying to find private housing. They must contend with not only the issues faced by anyone trying to secure a place to live during the housing crisis but must also navigate the system with language difficulties, a lack of knowledge or information about the Irish housing process and deal with “discrimination” from landlords and letting agents, it said.

Case study

Owodunni, who has lived in a direct-provision centre in Co Mayo for almost 10 years, told The Irish Times she has been looking for somewhere to live “since the day I got my papers” but it has been “so difficult”.

From Nigeria, Owodunni has had refugee status for three years.

She has been searching for accommodation for herself and her two children, aged 10 and 13, in Mayo, Louth, Meath, Kildare and Cork.

“I have a child who has additional needs. The occupational therapy team told me I should let him remain in the school he goes to currently, so I’m looking only in Mayo again now.”

When the news of the eviction date came, Owodunni initially thought it was “just a ruse, something to scare us”.

“Who would think somebody would evict you in the middle of a housing crisis? But then IPAS came in to have a meeting with us. Then we started getting letters informing us to move. It was just devastating,” she said.

“It’s not that we don’t want to leave. I’ve been here 10 years in a space where I have no freedom, why would I want to stay? But there is nowhere to go.”

Owodunni “has no idea what is going to happen tomorrow” and has sent her children to stay with a friend in Co Sligo.

“I don’t want my kids to witness anything. They’ve seen me cry the last few days, they’re asking why we have to pack our things. They know we are going to be homeless,” she said.

Some single mothers in the direct-provision centre Owodunni lives in have been asked to move to a hotel in Ballina, she said, but she is yet to hear anything about where she can move.

“There is a protest at that hotel since May of this year, the people protesting are still there. So it’s not looking good for those single mums either,” she said.

“I can’t imagine the Government officials can be inhumane enough to arrive here and force me out when I have nowhere to go, but I don’t know how tomorrow is going to go yet.”

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