Asylum seekers reliving trauma due to lockdown restrictions
RESIDENTS in Direct Provision Centres in Macroom and Millstreet feel they’re reliving lockdown traumas in their home countries due to the ongoing restrictions being imposed to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
According to a spokesperson for Nasc, the Cork-based advocacy group for refugees and migrants, some residents in Macroom’s Riverside Park Hotel and Drishane Convent near Millstreet are having memories of when they were in lock-down in their home countries rekindled by the current lock-down.
“It’s difficult for them to explain why they can’t go out to their children because the enemy is an invisible virus,” said the spokesperson. “In their home countries, the danger might have been more direct.”
Testing for COVID-19 is being carried out by the HSE in the centres, and those who test positive are sent to the Vienna
Woods Hotel on the outskirts of Cork city, where they can go into self isolation.
“We are in phone contact with the centre twice a day to find out what’s happening and to keep their relatives informed about [how] they’re doing,” said the spokesperson.
In Macroom’s Riverside Park Hotel, which opened last August, morale is high among the residents despite the lock-down restrictions, due mainly to the good relationship they have with the hotel management and the friendly approach of locals. But residents in the centre at Drishane are experiencing confusion due to communication difficulties. They’re also unhappy about not being able to get to shops in Millstreet.
Another issue is the cancellation of most asylum interviews since the start of the COVID-19 lock-down, and this is causing further stress.
Families with schoolchildren are also facing difficulties as home-schooling without access to laptops and adequate WiFi is virtually impossible.
Concern has been expressed also that the COVID-19 emergency may put improvement works recommended by Judge Bryan MacMahon last year on the long finger, delaying the provision of more space and facilities beyond next year.
The retired High Court judge made his recommendations to improve the lives of asylum seekers as they await the results of their applications.