The bus to take the asylum seekers living in Mosney to Dublin arrived shortly after 10am. But no one got on.
A group of about 100 protesters looked on nervously, waving placards appealing for justice and human rights. “We don’t know what the future holds: we are in limbo,” said one banner. “We are not bad people,” said a placard made from a cardboard box.
The 800 asylum seekers living in Mosney don’t have much. Each adult receives an allowance of €19.10 per week from the State. They get their meals provided and a chalet with a bedroom at Mosney, a former Butlins holiday camp that is the largest of 48 direct provision centres nationwide.
But most residents agree that Mosney is better than most direct provision hostels, where people often have to share a room with up to six others.
“Before I was moved to Mosney I was in a hostel in Monaghan where there were six to a room,” said Lucy, an asylum seeker from Ghana. “When you are here in Mosney you get a little house to yourself and you can decorate it and have a home. I’m not getting on the bus, I want to stay here,” she added.
Lucy is one of 111 asylum seekers at Mosney, who were sent letters last week by the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) informing them they were being moved to new hostels. She has lived in Mosney for more than two years and doesn’t want to leave all the friends and support she has there.
The transfer orders also affect the local community, according to Peter Rutherford, reverend at St Mary’s church in Julianstown. “I’m here because a number of our parishioners are facing being moved at short notice. It doesn’t seem to be a very just or fair way to deal with people,” he said.
Ireland is one of a handful of EU states that do not allow asylum seekers to work while their cases are being considered. This is hugely frustrating for those waiting several years for the legal process to end. But it also provides a ready and willing workforce for local volunteer groups in the community.
At the national ecological centre at Sonairte - a few miles from Mosney - the transfer of asylum seekers to Dublin is already causing problems. “We have a lot of asylum seekers volunteering with us. They help out in the gardens or in the shop,” said Natasha Kalvas, volunteer co-ordinator at Sonairte. “We’ve already noticed that two of our volunteers haven’t shown up since the transfer orders were sent out last week. It is sad to see them go,” she said.
But as the day wore on yesterday it became apparent that no one was going anywhere fast. The bus remained parked in the car park and no one from RIA showed up to explain to the asylum seekers what was happening.
Finally Sue Conlon, chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council, managed to contact RIA by telephone. She said the agency had agreed not to forcibly move people onto the bus but that its contract with Mosney would provide food and accommodation for 650 asylum seekers and not the 761 currently living there. The buses will return tomorrow and the next day but after that it is unclear whether the 111 asylum seekers in Mosney will have food or shelter.