Dublin asylum seekers 'racially abused, assaulted'
Asylum seekers who had been living in tents in central Dublin were assaulted and racially abused, according to a refugee advocate.
Hundreds of asylum seekers at a makeshift campsite outside the International Protection Office on Mount Street in Dublin were moved to two tented accommodation sites on Wednesday.
The chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council Nick Henderson told BBC News NI's Good Morning Ulster that the operation was a “sensible move” by the Irish government.
“It’s certainly a good thing that they were taken away from really horrendous conditions,” he said.
“People have suffered racist abuse, assault, very poor sanitary conditions, no access to toilets.
“I was there on Monday morning and witnessed a man putting up his tent on a busy pavement with passersby walking past.”
There have been as many as 20 arson attacks on accommodation due to house asylum seekers, Mr Henderson added.
He said that "in some ways" attitudes to migration have hardened and there are "a very small number of people" who are "determined to undertake criminal actions".
He said that he thinks this is a group of "about 30 to 40 to 50 people".
However, Mr Henderson emphasised that “there are communities who have stepped up to welcome and support people across the country”.
A Gardaí spokesperson said the force has "made a number of arrests for arson attacks or for criminal damage on International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) or rumoured IPAS locations".
The Irish government's cabinet sub-committee on immigration will meet today after a week of diplomatic disagreement with Britain.
The committee, made up of ministers who have a role in the immigration issue, including housing, justice and integration, is set to debate the issues which have arisen from Justice Minister Helen McEntee's comments that 80-91% of new arrivals seeking asylum in the state have crossed the border with Northern Ireland.
Ireland ran out of housing for asylum seekers last year and charities estimate that almost 1,800 people are now homeless - on top of the estimated 14,000 Irish people without accommodation.
Ministers are set to discuss ways in which derelict buildings such as defunct hospitals and hotels can be brought into state use to house those seeking asylum.
The committee, which deals with all issues surrounding migration, will also discuss efforts that are being made to process asylum applications quicker.
The Irish government has been keen to underline that their immigration system must be "firm but fair" but have recently ramped up mention of deportation and returns amid clashes between Gardaí and anti-immigrant protestors.
Accommodation challenges
Speaking in the Dáil (Irish parliament) on Tuesday, Taoiseach (prime minister) Simon Harris said that once asylum seekers sleeping on the street were given accommodation, the Mount Street encampment would not be allowed to return.
Mr Henderson said that 1,800 people were without accommodation in the Republic of Ireland and, since the asylum seekers were moved, there had been reports of others going to the Mount Street area “to try to get accommodation”.
“I cycled past the area last night and it’s quite a sinister appearance – scaffolding and barriers to prevent people returning.”
The Irish government finds itself in a “vicious circle”, he said, with a “one dimensional way of accommodating people” in emergency accommodation such as hotels, B&Bs and buildings “flipped across from one use to another”.
The Irish government has recently expressed concern about the number of asylum seekers coming from the UK to the Republic of Ireland.
On Tuesday, a plan to draft new Irish legislation which would redesignate the UK as a "safe country" to which asylum seekers can be returned was approved.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee has said a significant majority of recent asylum claims were from people who arrived in the state by crossing the border with Northern Ireland.
The movement of asylum seekers from Northern Ireland to the Republic adds “another dynamic”, Mr Henderson said, although he added that the Irish Refugee Council has “doubted” the 80% figure "for various reasons".
However he said: “There is no doubt that the UK’s Illegal Migration Act and the Rwanda Act has caused significant problems and caused some people to move across.
“It’s hard to overestimate how the Illegal Migration Act makes it virtually impossible to lodge an asylum application in the UK. It’s a bit of a surprise it’s taken this long to come to a head.”
