Residents thank the community for help

Asylum seekers at the Skellig Star Direct Provision Centre have welcomed the decision to close the centre and have thanked the people of Cahersiveen for their support in the past few months.

“The people of Cahersiveen stood with us and welcomed use and showed us love when we needed it,” said Azwar Fuard this week.

He said the group felt they had no option to begin a hunger strike last week to highlight their concerns.

They have campaigned to be moved for months following the COVID-19 outbreak which led to 25 cases at the former hotel turned emergency accommodation for asylum seekers.

He said that it was his believe and that of others living at the hotel that the it was not fit to live in and they claimed it should have never been opened, in the first place.

“It shouldn’t have gone to this level,” he said. The group ended the hunger strike, he said, after the Government announced that it would close the centre in the coming months. The first families will be moved this week and more will be moved as places become available.

“Our main concern is that people should be moved, they have gone through a hard time and are in trauma. They need access to medical help and they want to move somewhere they can get that. I believe they [the Government] will keep their promises and we ended the hunger strike,” he told The Kerryman.

“Without the support of the community we couldn’t have done this. We thank them and the Irish people. They are lovely people and it is very special to know them.”

Azwar and his wife and threeyear old daughter are from Sri Lanka and have been living at the hotel since March.

Cahersiveen Community and Business Alliance also welcomed the news and said that it was their wish that the residents would return, if they wanted, to live in the community, in houses.