Prime Minister Simon Harris has convened a confidential conference with his cabinet, senior authorities from An Garda Síochána and representatives from the Dublin City Council. This is in response to the urgent requirement to provide alternative housing for nearly 200 asylum seekers residing in the heart of the city in tents.
The assembly, which took place in the Government Buildings on Thursday night, was joined by the Justice Minister, Helen McEntee, and the Minister for Integration, Roderic O’Gorman. The primary topic of the meeting revolved around the unauthorised makeshift village near the International Protection Accommodation Centre, located on Mount Street. This encampment is composed of over 200 tents lining the roads and alleyways around the centre, all inhabited by male asylum seekers.
In the past, there was an effort to shift the residents of these tents to a site in Crooksling, Co Dublin. Regrettably, many of the individuals moved gradually made their way back to the city centre tents. Jim O’Callaghan, a Fianna Fáil TD who had prompted the assembly, urged that the settlement’s continued existence be rendered illegal due to safety, sanitation and potential disturbance to surrounding inhabitants and businesses.
In the meeting, several prospective solutions were debated. One of the outcomes was a fresh appeal from the Department of Integration for state-owned land, where military-style tents could be set up with access to sanitation and catering facilities. It was stressed that any action taken would be mutually agreed upon. The Cabinet’s migration and integration committee will soon convene to further discuss the matter.
Mr O’Callaghan voiced his intent to request that the Dublin City Council utilise its power under the Roads Act to dismantle the camp, labelling it as hazardous, unsanitary and illegal. Concurrently, Tánaiste Micheál Martin is standing by his statements attributing the surge in asylum seekers entering Ireland from the UK to the UK government’s policy of sending International protection applicants to Rwanda for processing. Speaking at Farmleigh House, Mr Martin, who is also the Minister for Foreign Affairs, expressed his disagreement with the policy but acknowledged that the UK is entitled to craft its legislative solutions.
Addressing the implications of the recent legislation, he stated, “It’s quite clear that a policy similar to Rwanda’s could deter individuals in certain situations in the UK from wanting to travel there.” The Deputy Prime Minister suggested that the core source of the issue doesn’t reside within Europe, rather it is due to the massive number of ongoing disputes globally.
World representatives must tackle a world in conflict. This discordance is generating the current migration crisis, from the Middle East to countries like Jordan and Lebanon, and even conflicts such as the ones in Sudan and Ukraine.