Left to freeze on the street
Conditions for 100 homeless in ‘tent city’ more perilous after blizzard
MORE than 100 homeless asylum seekers faced perilous conditions yesterday morning as their tents buckled and collapsed under the weight of snow.
Friday morning’s blizzard came as an unwelcome surprise to the rough sleepers outside Dublin’s International Protection Office (IPO) – now known as ‘tent city’.
As conditions worsened, many were forced to abandon their tents and seek shelter elsewhere or desperately try to reassemble their makeshift homes.
The situation has shed new light on the treatment of those seeking international protection here.
There are now 1,103 International Protection (IP) applicants, or asylum seekers, in Ireland without an offer of accommodation – up by nearly 100 in less than a week.
One person living outside the IPO wrote on social media yesterday morning: ‘How can we sleep in this freezing weather?
‘All refugees are human like Irish people. We need justice, we need accommodation. All the tents are falling down on us.’
They say the population around Mount Street Lower is growing in numbers all the time.
There are now more than 60 tents pitched in the vicinity with no toilet or shower facilities.
One of those who sleeps there, Sami Kupiszewski from Turkey, said the conditions in the tents were so cold that it was ‘impossible to sleep’.
He added: ‘Most people will be tired and sick tomorrow and medical attention will be necessary.’
Mr Kupiszewski told the Irish Daily Mail that adverse weather, sickness and the threat of violence are never too far away.
He said: ‘I’ve been living in Ireland for over three years without accommodation.
‘Our situation is getting worse every day and nobody in Government seems to care.
‘It’s not a good life at all and there’s growing anger and racism towards us. We all left very bad situations in our own country, but I don’t think anyone here expected that their lives in Ireland would be like this.
‘The reason why we’re all living in tents together like this is because it feels much safer. It would be very dangerous to be alone.’
But despite the large numbers of asylum seekers living together, the encampment and others like it have come under attack on several occasions.
Video footage depicted several far-right demonstrators damaging the tents at the IPO last year and demanding anyone inside to ‘get the f*** out’.
It’s understood cigarettes were also flicked at the tents in an attempt to set them on fire.
And in May, a group of men tore down a smaller campsite at nearby Sandwith Street in the city before setting it on fire.
As the snow and wind persisted, with freezing temperatures, many of the rough sleepers fled to the Lighthouse Homeless Café on Pearse Street for shelter and food.
Its co-founder, Aubrey McCa
‘How can we sleep in freezing weather?’
rthy, told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland: ‘The increased numbers didn’t show until 9am. Then it was absolutely manic. A lot of older men were looking for warm coats but we are out of stock.
‘There was a queue of people trying to get out of the cold and get some food.
‘I think tonight [Friday] we’re going to be out the door with demand. Even last night [Thursday] we had 363 people presenting at the evening service alone.
‘What we do is give them a hot meal, toiletries, sleeping bags and whatever we have so they can be protected from the cold in these extreme weather conditions.’
Mr McCarthy said their service cannot keep up with the demand from homeless asylum seekers.
He added: ‘The building itself is very busy but what we’ve done is line people up in a laneway which we cover so at least they don’t get snowed or rained on while they queue for the service.’
Irish Refugee Council chief Nick Henderson, who visited the site
‘Older men were looking for coats’ ‘Nobody should be sleeping rough’
yesterday morning, said he is ‘deeply concerned’.
He added: ‘The snow that had fallen caused many of the tents to collapse. There were people trying to get out of the weather by staying under an archway and I heard voices from inside the tents.
‘Seeing the conditions this morning only heightened our concerns. We have real concern that people who are in this situation don’t have automatic access to emergency homeless services.
‘We’ve written to Dublin Homeless Regional Executive this morning asking what supports would be put in place for the people around the Mount Street area. We don’t believe that the Government’s response is in any way adequate.’
It’s understood officials from the Department of Integration visited the site yesterday and collected names of people with a view to providing them with emergency shelter over the weekend.
Mr Henderson added that many asylum seekers move around Dublin city, sheltering in late-night cafes or takeaways.
He said: ‘Some other people are travelling to different locations within the country. [They say] that Dublin isn’t a safe place.
‘We’ve worked with people who were able to stay in hostels, which is problematic because you need a photo ID and secondly the cost of a hostel can be prohibitive.’
Mr Henderson is calling on the State to provide the rough sleepers on Mount Street Lower with portaloos, regular refuse collection, better-quality tents and thermal blankets.
Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore has accused the Department of Integration of turning a blind eye to homeless asylum seekers. She said: ‘It is absolutely disgusting that more than 1,000 vulnerable asylum applicants are living in tents on the streets – during sub-zero weather – while nearly 5,000 asylum and refugee beds are vacant.
‘Nobody should be sleeping rough on our streets, especially in these extremely dangerous conditions.
‘It is becoming clear that Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman’s priority is not providing accommodation for these migrants, but rather keeping them on the streets in an effort to dissuade other asylum applicants from coming to this country.’
International protection applicants who are not provided with accommodation receive a temporary increase of €75 to their expense allowance. This increases the allowance from the current rate of €38 per week to €113.80 a week.
In addition, all new arrivals who have not received an offer of accommodation receive an initial voucher of €100.
Ireland is currently accommodating more than 101,000 people, between those refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine and asylum seekers from other countries.
This includes almost 75,000 Ukrainian people who have sought accommodation from the State and over 26,000 asylum seekers currently in International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) accommodation.
A spokesman for the Department of Integration told the Mail that ‘despite the tireless efforts of the department’ there is currently an accommodation shortfall, particularly with respect to single adult males.
‘As a result, the department is not able to provide accommodation to all single male international protection applicants, with priority given to those within this group with identified vulnerabilities.
‘In addition to payments [allowances], a system of triage of adult males is being implemented to ensure that those who are most vulnerable are prioritised for the provision of accommodation.
‘Drop-in day services are provided to all non-accommodated persons who wish to avail of them. In such centres, IP applicants can access facilities including hot showers, meals and laundry services seven days a week. Currently this department has agreements with three charities to provide these services in Dublin.’