By Andy Spearman
When Integration Minister Roderic O’Gorman announced in February that the D Hotel was to be used to provide emergency accommodation for international protection applicants he said state support services would assist them to settle into the local community. Sadly, nothing of the sort has happened.
In a bid to discover what this government’s idea of protection for vulnerable people fleeing war and violence looks like, I met with a group of asylum seekers who are currently living in the D Hotel and the picture they paint is far from pretty.
The six people I spoke to described the attitude of the International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS), Tusla and management at the hotel as either bullying, uncaring or racist. So nervous were they about the reaction of management to their comments that they asked me not to divulge any names for fear of reprisals.
One woman who arrived in Ireland with her 15 year-old son just two days before taking up residence in the D two months ago told me her husband who is a journalist in her home country was forced to go on the run after he wrote an article criticising the government. She received threats that she would be raped or killed so she sold all her valuables to buy a flight to Ireland.
She described the treatment received by her and other asylum seekers in the D Hotel as “appalling” with sometimes five or six people sharing a room.
Like many of the others, she had particular criticism for the food they were being offered which she said was dreadful. “They told us we would be served food from our own cuisine but that never happened” she said.
All of the D Hotel residents I spoke to were very critical of the food they are given and, judging by the photos they showed me, they would be right to criticise, it looks disgusting.
One woman told me that residents in the D are not allowed to go out or even attend English language lessons and there was no entertainment available in the hotel which was especially hard on the children who have no outdoor area where they can play in safety and they are not allowed outside of the hotel alone.
“You can’t expect young people to stay at home all day and all night” she said, “The older ones certainly don’t want to be with their mother and father all the time, they want to be out making friends and having fun!”
She said that some of the children had scooters and bicycles but they were taken from them and locked in a store. “You can’t treat children like that” she said, “you just can’t.”
She said that she and her husband were sharing a room with their two sons aged 15 and 16 which leaves them with no privacy whatsoever.
Because the vast majority of the residents speak no English there are many, many issues that they cannot resolve. They rely on the few English speakers to contact IPAS on their behalf but one man said that he had sent hundreds of emails but had never received a reply.
“It is outrageous, but what can we do?” the man, who recently fled the carnage in Gaza asked. Another man, also from Gaza, said that one big problem is that they don’t know where to go looking for help and nobody is telling them.
“We don’t know how the system works here. I speak English, so it’s a bit easier for me, but I have emailed IPAS seeking advice but they don’t respond. There is no phone number that we can call them on to get advice. If we ask the staff in the hotel they don’t know who to contact either.
“Management issued a new rule recently which says that anyone under 18 will not be given food unless they are with their parents. My son is 17 so he cannot get a meal unless we are there. Is this the law in Ireland?
“If we ask management about anything, how to contact IPAS or HSE they say “it’s not our job, you must contact them yourself.”
This man is so depressed he says he is thinking of going back to Gaza. “It’s much better than what we face here” he said. “There you will live or you will die, here you will die every day slowly. It’s as simple as that.
“I don’t know if it is hotel management or is it a government direction to make our lives miserable and maybe we will leave and go back home? I do know that asylum seekers in many other countries are treated better and their human rights are respected.
“Yesterday I lost one of my cousins when his home was bombed, in the past two weeks I lost nine family members but no one here knows about that or cares. My sister is in Canada and she was welcomed there, she was told “you’re okay now, you are fine, you are in a safe place” they try to find her a job and they are asking what she needs. Here?– nothing!”
It wasn’t all bad news though, the man told me that he has never experienced racism from the people of Drogheda. “They empathise with us and know about our situation back home, I feel it is fine and I have no issues but when I go back to the hotel it is different.”
Deputy Nash said that members of the Drogheda 4 all group had introduced him to some of the D Hotel residents who had fled the genocide in Gaza and who have applied for safe asylum in Ireland.
“They have nothing but praise for the warm welcome and support they received from the people of Drogheda” he said. “Their issue is with the system, and how it is operating.
“Basic needs of families with children are going unmet. There is a fundamental lack of respect for human dignity being shown and in my view responsibility for all of this lies with a Department of Integration and IPAS service that is dangerously unaccountable.
“As far back as early July I made contact with the Minister and an official of the Department. I suggested that a meeting be held with residents and I asked for the contact details of the official in IPAS who is responsible for managing this particular contract, so that I could engage with them directly.
“The Department responded stating that the “IPAS team” planned to hold a “clinic” on-site but that “they (IPAS) do not have an official who can speak to you (me)”. They asked that continued contact be made through the Department’s Community Engagement Team.
“This isn’t good enough. They refuse to be accountable to elected TDs. That is not on and I am determined to take this further” Deputy Nash said.
The Drogheda 4All counter protest on July 27 which outnumbered a tiny group of far right extremists who had gathered at the quays.
Drogheda 4 All, said they were concerned about the unsuitability of hotels and single rooms to house entire families in the IPAS system, and the insufficient attention given to the human rights obligations of our state to all who either live or visit our shores.
“We understand that families are forced to share single rooms, despite the age profile of children. Also that there appear to be unreasonable and draconian rules, including curfews and restricted movement, enforced on them.
“There appears to have been no forward planning, or due consideration given to the mental health or general wellbeing of residents who live under these strict rules that risk inhibiting the proper integration of residents to Irish society, or indeed their right to self-autonomy, including the right to prepare food, congregate, and privacy.
“There is also an open question as to the status of IPAS residents relating to access to amenities and essential services within the town.
“We call upon our elected representatives and all civic groups to support those caught in the IPAS system and to show both support and solidarity with them.
“The failings of this and successive governments to invest in our town are not the fault of IPAS residents, nor should they ever be scapegoated for those failures.
“In light of recent violence both in Belfast, and on mainland Britain, it is vital that we as a nation do not besmirch either our flag or the modern state it represents, or allow the violent intolerance of a few bigots to invade and decimate our communities and the diverse cultures that enrich them.”
