Mounting protests by asylum seekers over delays

Protests by asylum seekers in the State’s direct provision system are spreading as residents in a fifth centre in just over a week demonstrated over long delays in the asylum system.

The protests came as Government ministers met with non-governmental organisations to discuss plans for a working group that will review the direct provision system.

The asylum accommodation regime was set up 14 years ago, with the Government at the time saying those seeking asylum would spend about six months in the system.

Today, more than half of the 4,300 residents have been living in the system for more than four years.

Up to 90 residents of the Ashbourne House Hotel in Glounthaune, Cork, yesterday gathered to highlight cases of people who have been waiting up to nine years for their status to be confirmed.

At the protest, Oluchi, mother of an eight-year-old boy, voiced her frustration with the system that has meant waiting for a decision almost nine years after her arrival. “If we were here six months or one year, it would be manageable but how do you explain to a child why we are waiting here nine years – it’s impossible,” she said. “He is attending school and he tells his friends that ‘look, I sleep in the same bed as my mum’ and his friends are shocked.”

She added: “If you committed a serious crime, you would at least know when you would be out . . . we don’t know how long we are going to be here.”

Another resident, Joe – who lives at the centre with his wife and three children – told of the toll the uncertainty was taking on residents. “People are suffering from frustration and depression having to stay in such conditions for so long and the Government isn’t doing anything.”

The working group – which includes Minister of State Aodhán Ó Ríordáin and Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald – is due to complete its work before the end of the year.