Hundreds of asylum seekers staying in Government-provided tented accommodation in Crooksling are living in “freezing conditions” without heating and proper shelter from the rain, volunteers have warned.
Videos circulated on social media on Monday night show wet bedding, leaking rooves and muddy tarpaulin floors at the campsite on the land surrounding the former St Brigid’s nursing home in Crooksling, Co Dublin. The Crooksling site has capacity for 540 people and houses between 10 and 12 men in each tent.
Snow and sleet fell around Crooksling on Tuesday morning, while Met Éireann has forecast temperatures to drop below freezing on Tuesday night.
One Palestinian man, who was recently hospitalised with a chest infection before being discharged back into the camp, said men were “frozen from the cold and the heating does not work”. “We are slowly dying and no one cares about us,” he told The Irish Times over WhatsApp.
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Dan, a resident from Nigeria, said men were struggling to sleep at night because “everywhere is really wet, the tents are full of cold with no heaters”.
Olivia Headon, spokeswoman for a group of South Dublin volunteers supporting asylum seekers, described conditions in Crooksling as “alarming”.
“Small heaters are insufficient to warm the tents, and the risk to health and safety is compounded by the altitude and exposure,” said Ms Headon in a letter sent to Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman on Tuesday.
“Despite reports of additional blankets being procured, many men have not received them and remain in soaked clothing. Meanwhile, community volunteers are urgently trying to supply blankets and thermal wear for over 500 men in Crooksling”.
Chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council said the Government-supplied tented accommodation was “fundamentally inappropriate for people seeking international protection to be placed in.”
“We have seen footage and received reports, from yesterday, of extremely concerning conditions in Crooksling. Sodden clothes, wet floors and leaking roofs. After the rain now comes the cold. This morning we have asked IPAS (International Protection Accommodation Services) to move people indoors at least until the cold weather passes.”
Residents also say they should be moved into the refurbished former nursing home building without delay and before temperatures drop further. Crooksling residents were temporarily moved indoors during the stormy weather in October before being rehoused again in tents.
Asked what efforts were being made to improve conditions in Crooksling, a department of integration spokesman said the IPAS “cold weather response” had come into effect on November 15th, which provides additional supports to asylum seekers in tents or without accommodation.
“All IPAS sites providing tented accommodation have plans in place for adverse weather, including cold weather contingency plans,” he said. “Tented accommodation is provided in robust, weather proof tents. All IPAS tented accommodation now includes heating inside the tents, and additional bedding and blankets are provided during colder weather.” He added that contingency arrangements are in place for the men to be moved indoors during severe weather.
“The Department is progressing renovation work on the indoor accommodation at Crooksling, this is not yet complete and so the accommodation is not yet suitable for routine use.”
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