A record number of asylum seekers are now without accommodation ahead of the Government’s cold weather initiative, which offers emergency shelter during periods of harsh conditions, coming to an end on Wednesday, the Irish Refugee Council has said.
The agency, citing official data, said 3,001 people seeking international protection were without accommodation one year on from the commencement of a second “no accommodation policy”.
It said that since last December, 5,671 of 6,407 people seeking asylum had been refused accommodation, with 3,001 still unaccommodated. Just 36 people were immediately accommodated following a vulnerability triage, it added.
Ahead of the cold weather initiative, which began on November 15th, coming to an end on Wednesday, the council’s chief executive Nick Henderson said: “We are extremely concerned that, from [Wednesday], people who were accommodated in Citywest [facilities] during the cold weather initiative will be placed back on to the streets and that people newly arrived will not be offered accommodation unless they are deemed vulnerable.
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“Met Éireann is forecasting a very unsettled spell of wet and very windy weather for the rest of this week.”
The council criticised what it says is a persistent failure by the State to address the asylum crisis and called on the current and next government to take urgent action. It also noted recent High Court judgments that, it says, found Ireland to be violating Irish and European law by failing to provide reception conditions to people seeking international protection.
“We can’t continue to normalise homelessness and have the State effectively delegate its duties to volunteers and under-resourced charities,” Mr Henderson said. “It puts both people seeking protection and those helping them at risk of harm.”
[ Homeless figures reach a new high of almost 15,000Opens in new window ]
The Department of Integration said it has not had sufficient accommodation capacity since last December and that some asylum seekers had found their own accommodation while others have been forced to sleep rough.
“We make every effort to help those that have not been provided with accommodation. Drop-in day services are provided to all unaccommodated people who wish to avail of them,” it said in a statement. Such services offer hot showers, meals and laundry facilities. Unaccommodated international protection applicants receive a weekly allowance of €113.80.
“[The International Protection Accommodation Service] is currently able to make temporary offers of accommodation to international protection applicants found actively rough sleeping in the Dublin area,” it said. “A range of urgent efforts [are under way] to source and develop immediate and longer-term accommodation.”
Following the cessation of the cold weather response plan on Wednesday, the service will continue to monitor weather forecasts and reactivate the plan if necessary.
Temporary accommodation at Citywest will no longer be available to new applicants. Those at the Crooksling accommodation centre, who were moved temporarily inside, will remain there while onsite tents are checked and repaired.
Applicants moved from tents at River Lodge in Newtownmountkennedy to alternative tented accommodation at the Central Mental Hospital are due to remain there.
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