Our shameful treatment of Syrian refugees
Direct provision housing… despite Government pledge
ment supports under HAP [Humanitarian Admission Programme] or rent supplement.
‘We hope the FG Government isn’t backtracking on the commitments on Syrian refugees and reforms to direct provision it made while in coalition with Labour.’
Estelle Feldman, former research associate in the school of law at TCD and board member of the Orthopaedic Hospital in Clontarf, said the conditions at Mosney for the refugees are ‘intolerable’.
‘The refugees are supposed to receive a proper allowance. Instead they are being subjected to the same inhumanities as the asylum seekers in direct provision, living in this isolated place on €19.10 per week. They are therefore unable to cook for themselves. Despite all this, the Syrians still say that the Irish are good people.’
The Red Cross, which has responsibility for rehousing Syrians after they leave the emergency reception centres, said it is concerned by the issues raised by the MoS.
‘We need to look into this and find out what’s happening,’ said John Roche, head of international and national services.
‘We’re trying to coordinate the private pledges of accommodation we have received, so we can get the refugees out and living in the community, and that’s started to happen now,’ he said.
This week, the UN announced that the number of refugees who have fled Syria since the civil war began six years ago has topped five million.
Dr Smyth said Ireland needs to speed up the pace of accepting more refugees.
‘The pace of relocation clearly needs to be picked up,’ she said.
‘We have agreed to relocate 2,622 asylum seekers from Greece by the end of 2017. To date, we have not relocated even a quarter of that number.’
‘Face same inhumanities as the asylum seekers’