Asylum seekers may be sent to Turkey under EU plan
TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has said that asylum seekers coming to Ireland may be sent to Turkey if the Government decides to sign up to a new EU proposal to deal with the migration crisis.
He was speaking after the Department of Integration yesterday said that January and February saw the ‘highest ever monthly arrivals’ here for asylum seekers with 1,800 and 1,600 respectively.
Housing for asylum seekers remains under pressure, with over 1,260 people who have arrived here left without a bed.
Speaking yesterday in the US, Mr Varadkar said it was not a case of the Government seeking to ‘dissuade’ people from coming to Ireland.
He said that if people wanted to come to the country they should do so through the correct channels via work permits.
Mr Varadkar said there were ‘increasing’ numbers of migrants coming across the border from the North. He added that the
Government in Ireland was working with the UK and EU to strengthen the border.
He also said that under new EU proposals, asylum seekers in Ireland could be processed in a third country, outside the bloc. He said the Government would need to decide whether or not to sign up to this in the coming weeks.
He said the EU would pay countries, potentially including Turkey, to take these applicants and that any move towards this would have to be done in compliance with human rights obligations.
The Taoiseach said he hopes the announcement of the locations of five new large centres for Ukrainian refugees in Ireland will not spark protests.
The new designated centre locations include Ballyogan Road in Dublin city, which can house 392 people; Fernbank in Limerick city, for 250 people; Punchestown in Co. Kildare, where 378 can be housed; and Gerald Griffin Street in Cork city, housing 107 people.
The fifth location is Stradbally in Co. Laois, where 950 people can be housed on the site of Electric Picnic in tents used for festival goers.
From today, Ukrainians arriving in Ireland will be accommodated in these centres for 90 days and will only be entitled to a weekly allowance of €38.80.
The changes to welfare and accommodation provision for Ukrainians were made by the Government in December but are taking effect from today.
An average of 33 Ukrainians a day arrived in Ireland over the last week, compared to 86 a day in December when the Government announced the changes.
Before Christmas, Ireland saw around 500 Ukrainians arriving here seeking protection each week; though this has halved to around 235 in the past week.
However, the reduction in the number of Ukrainians arriving here comes at the same time as a surge in the number of asylum seekers. In the second week of this month, some 462 asylum seekers arrived here – representing the highest weekly figure since the start of 2022.
Ukrainians who arrived in Ireland up to now have been entitled to an indefinite stay in Stateprovided accommodation along with the full jobseeker’s allowance of €232 per week.
Those who have arrived in Ireland before today will still be entitled to this.
However, the rates for Ukrainian arrivals in their first 90 days here have been slashed to a €38.80 allowance per week and an additional €29.80 per child.
After 90 days in the these centres, where they are provided with food, laundry and integration support, the Ukrainian arrivals will have to source their own accommodation.
Once they leave State accommodation, their weekly allowance increases to €232.
33 arrived per day over the last week