Racism protest ‘had to go ahead’
‘I am here to speak for the voiceless’
THOUSANDS gathered outside the United States embassy in Dublin yesterday in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and calling for an end to the direct provision system of asylum-seekers in Ireland.
This was the second large-scale protest to be held in the capital following the death of George Floyd, 59, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
His death sparked global outrage after police officer Derek Chauvin, who has since been charged with second-degree murder, was filmed kneeling on Mr Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes on May 25. Three other officers are also facing charges connected to Mr Floyd’s death.
The protest went ahead despite appeals from Health Minister Simon Harris and warnings that such a large gathering could breach coronavirus regulations and endanger public health.
Lucky Khambule, co-founder of the Movement of Asylum-Seekers in Ireland, one of the groups organising the protest, told the MoS that the protest couldn’t wait until after the pandemic.
‘George Floyd did not choose to die during the pandemic. This is the time when we can be able to react,’ he said.
‘We cannot postpone the reaction and solidarity of what has happened when we don’t know when the pandemic will be over.
‘That is why we announced that people who are strangers must make sure that they keep social distancing, so that we can at least try to be safe, but at the same time we can not stand back and say,
“Oh, Ireland is okay; there’s no racism”.’ He also said that most people are unaware of the poor conditions suffered by asylumseekers in Direct Provision.
Protester and asylum-seeker Confidence Masarurgwa, 46, told the MoS that she was attending to support fellow asylum-seekers and as a student studying law and social justice. She said she is lucky to have a single room in the Clayton Hotel, which is providing good conditions, but her family members in other parts of the country are struggling in direct provision.
She said: ‘I am here to speak for the voiceless. We’ve been told shouldn’t come here. We shouldn’t organise this, but I’ve got brothers and sisters in Monaghan in hostels. There are four in a room right now in this pandemic that don’t have a chance to social distance. So I’m here for them.
‘At one point they nearly said we shouldn’t come because we might be arrested and I said f*** this I’m coming, because I’ve got a brother I’ve got a cousin I’ve got a sister who are stuck in a room.’
She added: ‘I’m not sure if you’re aware, some people are even hiding the symptoms, because they’re scared of being victimised. We came here from home to run away, but we feel like we have another prison, and then you ask yourself, “What am I doing here. Maybe I should have stayed at home and died”.’
At different stages of the protest, those who gathered chanted ‘no justice, no peace’, ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘Say his name, George Floyd’ – these have been echoed across protests in the US. Protesters at one point all knelt on one knee and put their fists in the air and chanted ‘I can’t breathe’, Mr Floyd’s last words.
A strong Garda presence was on site as protesters gathered at 3pm outside the embassy. Earlier, organisers issued advice on social media to protesters, asking them to wear face masks, bring antibacterial hand gel and ensure a distance of two metres from fellow protesters. Scoop International, a charity that has been distributing personal protective equipment to nursing homes and direct provision centres during the Covid-19 crisis, was also there handing out PPE.
A Garda spokeswoman said it had been in touch with organisers to advise them of their obligations under Covid-19 regulations.