THE SYSTEM of housing asylum seekers in ‘direct provision’ centres is “unfair”, a report from the Free Legal Advice Centre (Flac) has said.
Direct provision entails accommodating asylum seekers on a full-board basis at centres and hostels nationwide, through which adults receive €19.10 per week and not permitted to work. The system has been Government policy for nearly 10 years.
In its report released this week, Flac said that people who had spent years in the system had become “institutionalised”, while it also “has a negative impact on mental health and the ability to lead a ‘normal’ life”.
“It is an unfair system which does not adequately address the needs of the vulnerable group of people for whom it is meant to provide,” stated the report, which called on the Government to review the policy to “ensure it meets human rights standards in Irish law and in international human rights treaties that Ireland has ratified”.
Flac has proposed that, whereupon the direct provision system remains, “self-catering facilities should be used to full capacity”.
It also suggested that any assessment of direct provision in relation to value for money should take account of long-term consequences for residents with regard to health and social inclusion.
Those who remain in the system for over a year “should be treated as any other destitute person and given access to supplementary welfare allowance”, it added.
Around 6,500 asylum seekers live at 50 direct provision centres nationwide, with accommodation and food provided by private companies under contracts with the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) at the Department of Justice.
The RIA says it monitors the operation of accommodation centres “on an ongoing basis” and provides training and support to proprietors and management of centres.
Its provisional budgetary allocation for asylum seekers’ accommodation and ancillary services during 2010 is €77.5m.
