A COALITION of NGOs has appealed to Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern to reverse a decision to transfer more than 100 asylum seekers from Mosney to Dublin.
The move comes as tensions increase at the former Butlins holiday centre ahead of next Tuesday’s deadline for the transfers to Hatch Hall hostel in Dublin.
At 7am yesterday, Reception and Integration Agency officials began conducting searches of all the chalets at the centre, asking residents to identify themselves and checking their rooms.
“People were shocked and scared because they thought they were being deported,” said one resident, who did not wish to be named. “They came in, asked me who I was, asked me if anyone was living with me and searched the bedroom and bathroom.”
Last month Mosney residents held three days of peaceful protests against the transfers, which the Department of Justice says are part of a plan to save €3 million a year.
Some 109 residents were initially given just a week to pack their belongings and move to the Dublin hostel where they will have to share rooms with several people. Many of those handed transfer orders have lived at the former holiday camp for several years while they wait for a final decision on their asylum cases.
They have their own rooms and in many cases have integrated into the local community.
Following the protests last month, the transfer orders were put on hold until August 31st.
Ten NGOs have written an open letter to Mr Ahern asking him to reverse the decision. The groups, which include the Irish Refugee Council and Amnesty International, say the proposed transfer is “disruptive and gives rise to concern over access to medical services”.
The group also criticise the department for targeting asylum seekers’ accommodation in its drive to save money rather than tackling long delays in the asylum system, which leave thousands waiting years for a final decision.
The letter notes Mosney residents were given less than a week’s notice to transfer, despite attempts by doctors at the centre to find out information two months before the decision.
It says the doctors have “stressed the need for a proper assessment of the residents’ needs in order to identify those for whom the transfer might prove to be severely detrimental”.
The NGOs say those transferred could lose the right to apply for an independent medical card at Hatch Hall because it is classified as a long-term accommodation centre.
In a statement, the agency said yesterday it was continuing to work towards a final transfer date of August 31st for all cases where there was no clear impediment, medical or otherwise.
It said it was assessing medical cases in co-operation with medical professionals.
A request by The Irish Timesto visit Hatch Hall has been refused by the department.
“The accommodation centre at Hatch Hall is home to a number of asylum seekers and in the interests of their privacy and the rights of the proprietor, the RIA cannot allow access to the centre,” the department said.