The co-ordinator of the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI) has said the Government needs a better plan to house people seeking asylum, because the current situation is not working and is “against human rights of people seeking international protection.”
A large number of people had been sleeping rough outside the International Protection Office after the Government stopped providing State accommodation to international protection applicants in December.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Lucky Khambule said; “the Government need to just have a better plan to help people because this way of treating people that seek protection, especially men, is really, really against the human rights of people to seek international protection.
“The Government need to be doing more.”
Mr Khambule said around 20 tents have been re-installed on Mount Street in Dublin city centre and he anticipates many more men returning from the Crooksling site in Co Dublin where they were moved at the weekend.
These men are human beings as well and need to be protected, he said.
“These are brothers, fathers, and families need to know that their people are safe and on the streets they are not safe. They are vulnerable and they are subjected to hate and sentiments of racism perpetrated by those that hate migrants in this country”.
He said there are spaces around the country and Dublin that could be utilitised.
Mr Khambule said that he visited Crooksling yesterday but could not get access to the site. However, he said, he did speak to some of the men.
Some were hoping they were being moved to better accomodation and were surprised that they were given tents and sleeping bags.
He said there are some toilets open there but the conditions are “not as rosy as people are saying”.
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The minister said that he made the decision to move about 150 asylum seekers to emergency accommodation at Crooksling in Co Dublin yesterday, after the site became available in recent days.
He said about 130 of them spent the night there on Saturday, and about 20 left and returned to the city centre.
The Department of Integration has said that the accommodation on offer will not just be for the St Patrick’s weekend.
In a statement, the Department of Integration said: “The site at Mount Street was cleared in cooperation with Dublin City Council due to the emerging public health and security risks.
