Gardaí “often increase the risk of violence” for homeless asylum seekers, showing “little empathy” for them, moving them on repeatedly from campsites and failing to respond to threats of racist violence, a report published on Monday claims.
The report, from the Irish Refugee Council, records volunteers’ experiences supporting homeless asylum seekers, now numbering almost 3,000 men, between January and October.
It notes alleged instances including where a Garda allegedly made the comment “Ireland is full” when engaging with volunteers, and another allegedly asked why they didn’t bring the men they were supporting home with them.
A Garda spokeswoman said “any organisation who has evidence of gardaí behaving inappropriately should report this to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission”.
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She said gardaí “regularly engage with people sleeping rough, for whatever reason, [to carry out] welfare checks. An Garda Síochána also has an obligation to respond to complaints being received about encampments.
“It is a criminal offence for a person to pitch a tent on public land, or on private land without consent. Depending on the particular circumstances of each individual case, the person may be moved on, requested to remove their tents, or the tent may be seized if there is a refusal to remove the tents.
“Each case would to be considered on their own set of facts on the question of a prosecution.”
The report is critical of State agencies, including Waterways Ireland and the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) which manages accommodation for asylum seekers.
Titled ‘If I don’t do this then it won’t be done – volunteering with homeless protection applicants’, the report surveyed 49 volunteers from a network of more than 150 people involved in supporting international protection applicants (IPAs) “forced to live rough in Dublin”.
Volunteers, predominantly women residents, were surveyed online, recruited from closed WhatsApp groups.
The report says Government has “reneged on its obligations under Irish and European Union law” in not providing their basic needs. The Department of Children argues that it provides information on homeless services, including those providing tents, and an enhanced allowance of €113.80 per week.
Volunteers told of fundraising and spending their own money on food, clothes, tents, ground-mats, tarpaulins, bedding, shoes and hygiene products. They carry out casework, advocacy and linking IPAs with services. Most had caring responsibilities at home, as well as work or education commitments.
Some spoke of being exhausted. “But I feel as if, if I don’t do this then [it] will not be done,” said one.
Volunteers worried about the men’s and their own safety.
Since December 4th, 2023, the Department of Children has stopped providing accommodation to single, male adult IPAs when they apply for asylum. Since then, as of Friday, 6,293 single men have applied for asylum, of whom 2,662 were “subsequently offered” accommodation; 717 were accommodated following a vulnerability triage, and 2,914 remain without accommodation.
[ Asylum seekers cleared from Grand Canal by gardaí within minutes of arrivingOpens in new window ]
Among the report’s 22 recommendations are that gardaí receive training on IPAs’ rights, the Department of Children open 24-hour drop-in centres for homeless IPAs, and homelessness for IPAs end.
A Department of Children spokesman said in recent months all IPAs found sleeping rough have been offered accommodation. “The Department is also progressing a range of urgent efforts to source and develop immediate and longer-term accommodation solutions ... to provide a more sustainable accommodation system,” he said.
Waterways Ireland said its “overriding concern” was “the safety and health of people staying in tents by the canals”. It was, however, dangerous to camp by waterways, it said. Its mandate was “to ensure that the canal and its embankments do not fall into misuse, disrepair or desuetude” and that during clearances “no personal belongings were wilfully destroyed ... For sanitary reasons, recycling tents was not permissible”.
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