Innumerable women and children, who have been granted asylum but remain in residences for international protection, have found themselves in uncertainty after receiving notices to vacate their current housing. The government has been accused by ActionAid of sowing “bewilderment” by planning to “expel mothers and children”. The charity said that these individuals were “shattered” upon receiving the letters.
The likelihood of securing private housing is perceived as “nearly impossible”, leaving many solo parents with the sole option of relocating to “emergency housing away from their established connections and their children’s educational institutions”, as stated by ActionAid.
Since September 2022, the Department of Integration has dispatched 3,004 letters to individuals granted the right to reside in Ireland, but yet to secure private residences, urging them to find different lodgings. Yet, worries arose as families, including single parents, began getting notices to vacate their residences.
In May, a few of these families received letters instructing individuals must “relocate to autonomous alternative housing in the community by Friday, 5th July 2024”. The most recent letters indicated an “immediate necessity” for residences to satisfy the State’s legal obligation towards individuals still in the process of seeking international protection.
The letter stated, “If you fail to locate alternative housing by 05/07/2024, IPAS (International Protection Accommodation Services) will provide an alternative temporary emergency accommodation”. However, ActionAid reported that a manager of a direct-provision centre in Wicklow got a call from IPAS stating that some female occupants won’t be relocated due to a lack of space in emergency housing. By Thursday, it was still uncertain where these women would be housed.
The charity has urged the government to extend eviction exemption to include parents and children, a privilege currently enjoyed by individuals above the age of 65 and those with considerable medical or welfare needs.
ActionAid’s CEO, Karol Balfe, expressed that it is wholly inappropriate to expect vulnerable women and children to leave their accommodation. She highlighted the efforts they’ve made to assimilate into their communities via their schools and local recreation clubs and how distressed they are at the thought of yet another move to an undetermined location.
Ms Balfe cited multiple instances of landlords capitalizing on the desperation of people looking to vacate direct provision.
The Department of Integration is reaching out to individuals and families who have had their status for significant periods of time. This includes single persons or couples who have held their status for over nine months and families that have had their status for over a year and a half.
Currently, around 31,000 individuals reside in international protection accommodation, with 5,700 of those individuals maintaining permission to remain in the country. The latest government data indicates that there are 2,228 recent international protections applicants without a home.
According to a representative from the department, once an individual receives refugee status or the permission to remain in the country, it’s no longer legally required for the government to offer accommodation, given that such individuals posses the same entitlement to housing as Irish nationals. Despite this, The International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) has continued to provide shelter until residents are capable of sourcing their own housing. The representative also stated that for those with status who couldn’t secure housing, they are granted “temporary, emergency accommodation”, ensuring they are not left homeless.
A recent report from the Economic and Social Research Institute highlighted the difficulties faced by people granted permission to stay in Ireland who are still residing in direct provision, who faced “significant challenges and obstacles” in the pursuit of private housing. These individuals faced language barriers, lack of understanding or information about the Irish housing process along with discrimination from landlords and rental agencies.
Owodunni, who had found refuge in a direct-provision center in Co Mayo for nearly a decade and had refugee status for three years, was seeking a home for her and her two children, aged 10 and 13, across several parts of Ireland. As one of her children had additional needs, she was recommended by an occupational therapy team to keep him in his current school, hence she limited her search to Mayo. Owodunni initially thought the news of the eviction date was merely a scare tactic.
“It’s unimaginable that someone would try to expel you amid a severe housing shortage. But then we had a meeting with IPAS. Soon after, we were being notified to vacate via letters. It was genuinely heartbreaking,” she expressed.
“It’s not that we are unwilling to depart. Having spent a decade in a place that offers no autonomy, why would anyone wish to remain? But we have no other alternatives.”
Owodunni confesses she is completely clueless about what the future holds for her, prompting her to relocate her children to a friend’s place in Co Sligo.
“I don’t want my children to witness any of this. They’ve seen me shed tears over the past few days, they’re wondering why we’re packing our stuff. They realise we’re on the verge of becoming homeless,” she stressed.
Other single mothers residing in the same direct-provision centre as Owodunni have been told to shift to a Ballina-based hotel, although she has received no specifics regarding her own relocation.
“There’s been an ongoing protest at that very hotel since May this year, and the demonstrators haven’t vacated. Hence, it doesn’t look promising for those single mothers either,” she added.
“If the Government officials are heartless enough to arrive here and forcibly evict me when I have no other place to relocate to, it’s anyone’s guess how tomorrow might turn out.”