Approximately 30 asylum-seeking individuals have been returned to the International Protection Office (IPO) situated on Mount Street following a temporary placement in lodgings in Swords the previous evening.
This shift followed a significant manoeuvre earlier on Wednesday when roughly 285 asylum seekers were relocated from encampments on Mount Street to different accommodations in the areas of Crooksling and Citywest. Post this operation, the Mount Street plot was cleared, cleaned, and readied for the next set of individuals who were also transported to Swords for lodging. Unfortunately, due to limited space and the absence of certain individuals during the process, some were left stranded without shelter.
The following day, close to 9am, a bus carrying about 30 men arrived at the IPO. Among these men was Ladi, a 19-year-old Albanian, who explained that his group was moved to Swords originally just for a night. They spent the night on the floor and were awoken early morning to be repositioned back to Mount Street. “We were told that our stay was only for a night”, he elaborated.
Ladi had arrived in Northern Ireland five days prior and had spent two nights in a public park without a sleeping bag. After this, he was offered temporary shelter by fellow Albanian men in Belfast who then relocated him to the IPO in Dublin.
In the meantime, several men who were neglected during the previous day’s transportation waited outside the IPO in the early hours of Thursday. Among those was Omar, a 23-year-old Somalian, who procured a tent and pitched it near O’Connell Street, expressing hope for a more permanent accommodation.
There were also three unnamed Nigerian men who endured a long wait to be transported to new accommodations either in Citywest or Crooksling. Following the closure of the IPO office on the previous evening, they described feeling forgotten, left waiting on Mount Street without their tents.
A group was successful in acquiring new tents from homeless charity, The Lighthouse, and decided to set them up nearby the city’s heart. Certain individuals who couldn’t find shelter were utilising drop-in services during the operation. Upon their return, they discovered their possessions had been swiftly removed.
One man was away for an appointment as the tents were being emptied, and currently remains uncertain about the whereabouts of his luggage. Another gentleman from Nigeria, who arrived in Ireland last December, had his tent cleared while he was at a drop-in service.
He recounts his unsuccessful visit to Citywest seeking accommodation – their names were not on the list, forcing them to return to the urban core. On their return, they were informed by the local police that they could not remain there that night, thus they were compelled to seek alternative lodging and a new tent.
A 53-year-old South African man, who missed the previous day’s buses as he decided to shower, spent the night roaming the streets due to the absence of a tent or sleeping bag. He expressed his plight, stating the lack of accommodation available for someone his age.
Volunteers who have been aiding those living in tents at the IPO were able to assist around 15 circumstance-stricken men on the Wednesday evening, helping them obtain tents and find a secure place to rest. Some of those who were given shelter at the Crooksling site decided to leave and return to the city centre, due to the isolated location and sleeping facilities, according to the volunteers.
The Lighthouse’s chair at Tiglin, Aubrey McCarthy, disclosed that the charity dispensed 27 tents along with sleeping bags on the Wednesday night. He expressed surprise at the extensive queue formed on the previous night.