In the Irish capital Dublin, asylum seekers have been camping in front of the authority that examines asylum applications for weeks. Most recently there were around 200 tents. Now the emergency services are taking action against it.
A large police force is clearing a tent camp with hundreds of asylum seekers in Dublin. This is reported by the broadcaster RTÉ and the Irish Times newspaper. Buses are ready to take people away.
More than 200 tents were recently lined up in the streets and paths around the International Protection Office, which is responsible for examining asylum applications in Ireland.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris announced the eviction on Tuesday. A government statement said the operation was intended to facilitate the “safe transport” of people from the tents.
Moved to accommodations
People will be moved to shelters, the statement said. There will be toilets, showers, health services and food, among other things. Where the accommodations are located remained unclear.
Ireland's Business Minister, Peter Burke, said asylum seekers would be moved to facilities where they would receive “wraparound services”. However, they might still have to live in the tents. There is a housing shortage in Ireland.
“Absolutely scandalous”
The leader of the opposition Labor Party, Ivana Bacik, had previously said it was “absolutely scandalous” that a former hospital site was left empty while people lived in tents with no access to sanitation. Justice Minister Helen McEntee said the government had worked “day and night” to provide accommodation for people seeking shelter and the homeless.
There had been previous efforts to relocate the camp residents to alternative accommodation. On March 16, around 150 asylum seekers were moved to the Crooksling emergency shelter in County Dublin. However, some of them left the Crooksling site on the day of their arrival and returned to the International Protection Office – saying that the new location was too remote and that the promised sanitation facilities did not work. Integration Minister Roderic O'Gorman rejected claims that people had been relocated because of the St Patrick's festival.
Significantly more asylum seekers
According to the Irish government, significantly more asylum seekers have recently come to the EU country without the necessary documents, mostly via the open border with the British province of Northern Ireland. According to media reports, more than 6,700 people have applied for asylum in Ireland since January. That is almost 90 percent more than in the same period last year.
Prime Minister Harris announced that migrants who arrived irregularly would be sent back to the United Kingdom. He wants to introduce corresponding laws. However, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak rejects this as long as the EU does not take back migrants from Great Britain.
