A Limerick-based support organisation for refugees and asylum seekers has called for greater efforts to be made in establishing direct relationships between asylum seekers, refugees and their local communities.
Doras Luimní said that refugees and asylum seekers were increasingly suffering from alienation and depression because of minimal integration with the local people of Limerick and surrounding areas.
According to Geraldine Dollard of Doras Luimní, some people view asylum seekers and refugees as "unfortunate guests" who will eventually return to their own country.
This belief, she adds, motivates peoples' initial willingness to accommodate asylum seekers within the local community, but also explains why they do not easily become integrated.
"In Limerick, we meet asylum seekers who have been waiting an average of three years for a decision on their application for refugee status.
"Some are known to wait up to seven years.
"Accommodated in hostels in Meelick in Clare, Limerick city and Foynes in Co Limerick, their legal status in Ireland is uncertain while they await a decision," said Ms Dollard.
"During that time, they must survive on €19 a week and they are not allowed to work.
"Coupled with the lack of any real contact with their local communities, many face isolation and depression. Likewise, refugees struggling to secure employment find themselves alienated from local community life," she added.
To highlight the importance of developing and fostering relationships between asylum seekers, refugees and local communities, Doras Luimní will hold an open public event at the University of Limerick next Saturday.
The second annual "SummerFest" will feature a soccer tournament, an art exhibition, bouncy castles and face-painting, together with entertainment including music from Elikya, a Limerick-based Congolese choir.
Doras Luimní came together in 2000 to respond to the refugee situation in Limerick city and surrounding areas.