Hannah Carbery

Ireland is renowned for its beauty, history, and preservation of lush, green spaces. Its rurality and freedom are sure to be an envious feature as Covid-19 causes entire countries to lock-down and thousands of people are encouraged to self-isolate. In Ireland, all non-essential trips have been banned, limiting movement to key workers travelling to work, aiding vulnerable people or relatives, grocery shopping, and exercise within 2km of the home. But for 7,400 asylum seekers in Ireland, originating mainly from Zimbabwe, Nigeria, South Africa, Somalia, and Pakistan, their experiences during containment and self-isolation come with even greater challenges.

Direct Provision is Ireland’s system of accommodating asylum seekers in residential institutions. The State ‘directly provides’ medical care and accommodation, along with a small weekly allowance of €29.80 for children, and €38.80 for adults. Should asylum seekers want to live somewhere that is not a Direct Provision centre, they will lose their allowance and the government will not contribute to the cost of their accommodation. 

Initially, the system which began in November 1999 was intended as a short-term solution to the influx of people seeking asylum in Ireland, but has lasted two decades and seen 64,594 people pass through. Over this period, charities and human rights organisations have repeatedly exposed the inconsistencies and human rights violations that the system fosters. Prior to Covid-19 these included issues of overcrowding, lack of privacy, the inability to cook or live a normal family life, idleness, isolation, and difficulty accessing services.

The Irish government pays private firms to provide accommodation for refugees and asylum seekers. As a result, experiences of asylum seekers vary considerably and depend on the individual private contractors. While some provide adequate space and resources to those living there indefinitely, others have been shown to prioritise profit over the protection and welfare of the people in their care.

Before creating unlimited companies in off-shore jurisdictions, firms such as Mosney Holidays were making profits of up to €5.4million. These profits are not being invested back into the welfare of those under care but are made at the cost of the safety of residents. Should Covid-19 infect just one person in an overpopulated accommodation facility, the lives of others living there are at severe risk. 

Now required to ‘self-isolate’, asylum seekers in shared accommodation and rooms with up to six others face the impossible task of self-isolating, and have pointed out the danger of shared communal areas such as bathrooms, canteens, and washrooms that threaten the health of all living there. RTÉ News have revealed that, already in a Kerry Direct Provision, there have been 23 confirmed cases of Covid-19 between residents, children, and staff.

Dr Tony Holohan, Ireland’s chief medical officer, has admitted that it is not possible to observe social distancing when sharing a room with people that are not family, yet the government’s inaction has put the lives of asylum seekers and refugees directly at risk. With RTÉ estimating 1,700 people in Direct Provision sharing a bedroom with non-family members, urgent action is needed to prevent more lives being endangered. 

Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland, an activist group, have shared multiple of these concerns and asked for the government to respond to calls for proper self-isolation facilities and investment into the health and safety of asylum seekers in Ireland. One refugee raised concern over his still living in an overcrowded Direct Provision facility while working in a nursing home. He fears he may contract Covid-19 and spread it to the vulnerable people he works with. 

Distressed asylum-seeking parents and lone parents have been asked to nominate an alternative caregiver for their children should they fall ill. Unfortunately, many do not know anyone else that can support their child should the worst happen. The emotional trauma this brings is immeasurable on top of what many have already experienced and is furthered by the dangers of overpopulated and poorly managed direct provision accommodations during this pandemic.

Journalist Sian Cowman has exposed the inhumane treatment of asylum seekers in Ciúin House, Carrick-on-Shannon, by sharing anonymous anecdotes of people who have had food items removed by staff, are forbidden from eating in their rooms or feeding their children outside of designated meal times, and have even had food parcels intercepted and confiscated by staff. Worse yet, news outlets have reported cases of several asylum seekers being refused entry to their accommodation after recovering from Covid-19, “left to fend for himself”.

Far from a safe and comfortable environment, very few people can imagine being quarantined and so severely restricted in their daily lives, and even fewer should have to experience the shocking conditions of direct provision while trying to protect themselves and their family from Covid-19. It is inhumane and impossible for the Irish government to expect asylum seekers to self-isolate when they are subject to overcrowded rooms and communal areas. 

Certain groups have taken it upon themselves to improve the conditions of those living in Direct Provision centres such as the Sanctuary Mask Initiative in county Cork, which has launched a fundraiser to support women in Direct Provision centres who are producing hygiene masks and distributing them to the elderly in nursing homes and other vulnerable groups. It hopes to restore agency and dignity to a group often viewed as passive “individuals with nothing to contribute to society” and highlights the value of asylum seekers in Ireland.

Regardless, the onus must be on the Irish Government to make systematic change, by holding the companies charged with caring for asylum seekers to account rather than relying on charitable projects to improve the lives of asylum seekers in Ireland. More transparency over profits and spending should be made public and prevent businesses from choosing profits over human lives. Ireland must push to improve the living conditions for all asylum seekers who are trapped in Direct Provision centres, now more than ever, to ensure people do not die unnecessarily and for the sake of profits.

The art accompanying this piece is courtesy of © Eoin Kelleher (@eoinkellehercartoons).