Asylum seekers have been moved from tents at the International Protection Office on Mount Street in Dublin’s city centre. Video: Enda O’Dowd
Asylum seekers have been moved from tents at the International Protection Office on Mount Street in Dublin’s city centre to State accommodation in Citywest and Crooksling in southwest Dublin.
There were more than 200 tents in the streets and laneways surrounding the office, all occupied by male asylum seekers.
The men were woken up on Wednesday morning and taken on buses to the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS)-designated accommodation, while the encampment at Mount Street was dismantled and the streets cleaned by Dublin City Council.
A statement from the Department of the Taoiseach confirmed the move, saying the Crooksling site has “robust, weatherproof tents” as well as sanitary facilities, food and security.
While in Crooksling residents will receive “access to medical care … IPAS customer services team clinics; on-site support from the provider’s staff; and psychosocial and integration support from NGO partners,” the Department said.
At Crooksling, two men in their 30s, from Morocco and Egypt, said they had arrived at St Brigid’s Home from the IPO on one of three buses. They said they did not want to be identified.
On Monday morning, IPAS staff handed them a sheet in several languages, explaining that they were to be moved to alternative accommodation by bus, and that they should pack up their belongings.
“At the accommodation, you will be safe and there will be food and hygiene facilities and IPAS will be able to provide you with support,” the sheet read.
Some people were happy to leave the IPO, they said, but not everyone, as Crooksling is far from the city centre.
The men said they had arrived in Ireland a some time ago from the UK, travelling to Dublin from Belfast.
Taoiseach Simon Harris referred to the early morning move as a “humanitarian operation”, saying the situation on Mount Street had become “completely unacceptable”.
“The international protection applicants have been taken to safe shelter with appropriate sanitary facilities, hot food, a clean place to eat, access to medical help and a bus link to Dublin City Centre,” he said.
Asylum seekers moved from the tents will not be permitted to return, it is understood.
Gardaí and Dublin City Council have been told by the Department of the Taoiseach and the Attorney General’s office that they are expected to apply the law and prevent any return to Mount Street as well as any future encampments that might appear on city streets.
It is expected that the City Council will install plants and street furniture at Mount Street to prevent the re-erection of tents, while gardaí from Pearse Street station will monitor the area.
By 11am on Wednesday, all tents had been removed while a cleaning operation remained ongoing, with Dublin City Council staff seen hosing down the surrounding area.
A heavy garda presence remains at the site while Mount Street is still closed to traffic, with diversions in place.
There was limited access to the area, with barricades erected at all entry points to the immediate vicinity of the International Protection Office, only allowing local workers or residents to enter.
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Speaking outside the IPO, Mohammed Said said he was woken by gardaí early this morning and said he was being moved to accommodation.
Said, who said he was from Egypt and looked to be in his 40s, said he had been staying close to the IPO since arriving in Ireland a fortnight ago.
He said that he did not want to board the bus. He was leaving the Mount St area on foot, holding his tent and a blue plastic bag with a duvet.
Volunteer Olivia Headon, who has been providing support for several months to those camped at the IPO, said there were “mixed reactions” among those who were moved.
“A lot of people really wanted to go, this is what they’ve been hoping for – a safe bed,” she said adding that others were “concerned” about being moved, wondering if they were moving “from one tent to another tent”.
She said some of the men were concerned about being moved to the Dublin mountains, far away from services and support available to them near the IPO.
Underlining it all, there was a “great anxiety” with some fearing they would be deported or “sent to the UK, or Rwanda,” Ms Headon said.
“Not everyone came through the UK,” she said, adding the men did not raise those concerns directly with Government staff but with volunteers present.
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