As Russia’s war in Ukraine is on the verge of entering its second year, there is much riding on the Government getting the management of the continuing flow of refugees into the country right.
In the first weeks of this year, Ukrainians fleeing the war for Ireland and international protection applicants have been arriving at a rate of close to 1,000 a week. This is on top of the 70,000 Ukrainians who arrived into the country last year, including more than 50,000 being accommodated by the State, and a further 19,000 international protection applicants.
The pressure to provide accommodation has been growing since last summer and will only increase further as hoteliers and guest-house and hostel owners look to return their premises to their usual use.
Forecasts point to a growing problem. The Cabinet was told in January that there was a risk of losing 8,000 beds, about 17 per cent of all accommodation being provided to Ukrainians, as the tourism season returns. Up to March, there could be a further 11,000 Ukrainians seeking accommodation, if arrivals continue at the current rate.
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The situation has reached a pinch point. The number of international protection applicants arriving into the State continues, with insufficient accommodation of scale becoming available and a number of existing accommodation contracts coming to an end. Finding spaces for international protection applications is increasingly challenging, particularly for single men.
Work that has begun renovating 61 large buildings, including former hospitals, hotels and B&Bs, to provide housing for up to 2,700 refugees, is a good first step but more must be done.
Kevin McCarthy, the secretary general of the Department of Integration, which manages the Government’s refugee response, said that efforts to find accommodation for asylum seekers had entered “an extremely difficult phase” with the accommodation pressures leaving insufficient time to communicate with local communities where the refugees are to be housed. The frantic State response to deal with one crisis is fuelling another. Anti-immigration sentiment is being whipped up by vocal far-right elements.
Increased protests and the amplifying effect of social media means that the angry rhetoric from those elements will only grow louder if the immigration issues are not tackled head on. This doesn’t just risk undermining public support for the State’s immigration response, but poses a danger to social cohesion.
The Government must do what it has so far failed to do: articulate a plan, both short and long-term, for dealing with accommodation shortages. Failing to plan properly is creating another issue for the Government: a credibility problem.