In April last year, Cebsile Mhlanga received the news she had been waiting for since she arrived in Ireland to seek asylum with her children four years ago: her refugee status had been granted.
Then, in March of this year, another letter arrived.
The letter instructed her that she and her children, aged nine and 15, must leave their accommodation centre by July, as the International Protection Accommodation Services (Ipas) would no longer house them.
“I know it’s the right thing to move, but our situation is different from Irish people. I feel like a frog racing with horses,” she tells The Irish Times.
RM Block
Mhlanga is one of hundreds of people in Ipas centres who have been told to leave by early July as they are “no longer entitled” to live there, prompting fears of a surge in demand for homeless accommodation.
Ipas, which houses more than 33,000 people, issued the letters in March to residents, including 475 families, who have been recognised as refugees or granted the right to remain in the State, telling them to leave the accommodation by the summer.
The letters, which were also sent to “approximately 700″ single adults, were issued, despite senior Department of Housing officials warning the Department of Justice of their serious concerns about a “risk of homelessness among those who will receive the letter”.
The Department of Justice said just over 5,000 people have completed their application process that “means they have a legal status that allows them to remain in Ireland and to work”.
Mary Hayes, director of the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, told the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee last month that more than 1,300 people who had left direct provision sought emergency accommodation in Dublin over the last two years.
Presentations from direct provision were the “single biggest driver” of new homelessness among single adults, she said.
Mhlanga, who is originally from Swaziland, says she has been in the same Ipas centre since she and her children arrived to seek asylum, after she and her children had been “stalked and threatened” because of their father’s political involvement in Swaziland.
Mhlanga is “willing to move” now that she has her status here, but feels alone in the process.
“We all need independence. But the challenge is finding a house. It’s a real hurdle. Other families here who got their status even earlier than me… I saw how they struggled,” she says.
“I’ve done so many viewings, but they want me to produce a landlord reference - I could never have those, having been in Ipas. But that’s the criteria.”
Mhlanga, a single parent with a low-paying job, feels her payslips are putting landlords off, despite qualifying for the Housing Assistance Payment (Hap).
Yet, agents have told her “it matters how much I earn”.
“The landlords still think I won’t be able to pay. They haven’t even given me a chance,” she says.
The Irish Refugee Council (IRC) has been assisting Mhlanga, she says, but “they can only do so much”.
“Even Irish people already struggle to find a home in this housing crisis. But for us, there is going to be discrimination. We are not white, we are black, it makes it even worse.
“When they see your name, they’re judging you by the cover,” Mhlanga says.
Mhlanga’s family have been integrating into their local area for the four years they’ve lived there. Her son has joined a football team locally, which he “really loves”, she says, and both of her children have been attending school in the area.
“I’m having to prepare them psychologically for a big move. My son wants to know where we’re going, and how far it is. They’re asking me how much money I have and if we have enough,” Mhlanga says.
“I don’t blame them... But it’s very stressful as a single parent.”
It’s been a similar experience for Vivian Nyathi, from South Africa, who has been living in an Ipas centre in Cork since arriving with her three children, aged seven, 13 and 15, in 2024.
She and her children received status in January.
“Almost as soon as my papers came, we got letters from Ipas to say this was the time to start looking because they can’t house us forever - I understand that, of course,” she says.
Nyathi immediately spoke to the Peter McVerry Trust homeless charity seeking help with paperwork and advice on how to navigate things.
“They really did do their part, but I went to the wrong council to seek Hap and my application was delayed,” she says.
“I’ve restarted the process with the county council, but received a letter to say I don’t qualify for Hap because I’m above the threshold by just €36 a week.“
‘I’m lucky enough to have not experienced racism, but in a property I was looking at, the agent told me the owner didn’t want children’
— Vivian Nyathi, from South Africa
Nyathi doesn’t qualify for any social assistance for housing, but doesn’t earn enough to get her own place.
“I am literally facing homelessness. I’ve written to Ipas to ask them to please look into extending. They said they have no legal obligation to allow me to stay here,” she says.
“The only way they can house me is if they relocate me to another county, which is distressing because I work here, my kids are in school here and we have ties to this community.”
Nyathi says she has been checking for a place to live on property websites every day.
“You hear nothing back for weeks. You’re lucky to get a viewing. I feel very isolated,” Nyathi says.
“I’m lucky enough to have not experienced racism, but in a property I was looking at, the agent told me the owner didn’t want children. If you mention three kids, you can’t get a two-bedroom because of overcrowding, and at the moment that’s all I can afford realistically.
“The housing crisis affects us all. A lady I spoke to told me to sleep on a friend’s couch for a while. Who? I don’t have that support here,” she says.
Those working in the refugee-support space were seeing “increasing numbers of people struggling to find accommodation after leaving Ipas”, says Fiona Hurley, chief executive of Nasc, the migrant and refugee rights centre.
“Many of our clients rely on Hap and simply cannot afford market rents, while landlords frequently refuse to accept Hap tenants, despite housing assistance being protected under Ireland’s equal status legislation,” she says.
For those who cannot secure accommodation, the alternatives can involve “transfers to remote emergency facilities that disrupt employment, education and family life”, she adds.
Some of Nasc’s clients who have been transferred to tented accommodation have described “deeply inadequate living conditions”, including tents leaking during periods of heavy rain.
“This is an ongoing policy of disruption and disintegration, moving people away from their communities, students from their schools, workers from their employment, patients from their GPs and medical support,” says Nick Henderson, chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council.
People in Ipas “want and need” to move out and to integrate into Irish society, Henderson says, but this situation “increases the insecurity people face and could push more people into homelessness”.
The Department of Justice says the accommodation system “continues to operate under significant pressure”, particularly in accommodating single adult males, and that it must prioritise accommodation for international protection applicants entitled to accommodation under legislation.
The department says Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan had stated that it is “not sustainable” for Ipas to continue accommodating people who have been granted legal status indefinitely while new applicants are arriving who require accommodation.
“People who have held status for a considerable period – generally six months for single persons and couples, and 12 months for families – are supported and encouraged to secure accommodation in the community,“ the department states.
“This approach ensures that standard Ipas accommodation can remain available for newly arriving applicants while continuing to provide an accommodation offer to those with status where required.”
The department said the 475 families who received letters in March telling them accommodation would no longer be available from next month will have had their status to remain in the State for 12 months or more.
The department said that relocating “can be very disruptive for people” and that Ipas has a team that works with various parties, including homeless agencies and charities.
For Nyathi, who has been working for more than a year, her savings are “not what they should be compared to someone working here longer”, but she wants to pay her way.
“We don’t want to sponge off the system or to delay leaving. We just want resources to allow us to transition,” she says.
“If [Ipas] see that we’re trying, they should agree to extend it for a month or two to allow us to do our best. Otherwise we’re on our own. That’s crippling.”
