As many as 100 asylum-seekers were left without a place to stay in Dublin yesterday because officials from the Eastern Health Board could not find emergency accommodation for them. The board finds accommodation for asylum-seekers on behalf of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
Yesterday was a particularly busy day for the Department's Refugee Application Centre in Lower Mount Street, where queues normally begin to form as early as 6 a.m., as there was backlog after the Bank holiday weekend.
At one stage gardai were called to the offices to quell any potential unrest among those queueing.
The large crowd is symptomatic both of the increase in those applying for asylum status and the fact that as many as 85 per cent of these are living in the greater Dublin area. Almost 2,000 people applied for asylum status in August and September, compared with 400 for June. It is expected that
around 7,000 people will have applied during 1999. Six thousand people are living in private-rented accommodation and 2,500 in emergency accommodation.
A spokesman for the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform said that in view of the difficulties the EHB was experiencing in finding accommodation for refugees in the Dublin area, the Government had decided to disperse refugees around the country.
With this policy in mind, he said that advertisements would appear in the national press "shortly" for persons to provide accommodation for refugees throughout the country. Last night, the chairman of the Association of Asylum Seekers and Refugees, Mr Kensika Monshengwo, said: "I know some Kosovars have gone home already so there must be some space outside Dublin to house people; we are not asking for top hotels . . . just a roof."
Although "all practical options" would be considered, it was likely that locations in larger urban centres would be preferred, the Department of Justice spokesman said.