I have written about the direct provision system for asylum seekers several times before. It is an inhumane system, in which hostel managers have the discretion to maltreat asylum seekers at will, and in which asylum seekers live in ‘zones of exception’ where the law pertaining to Irish citizens does not apply.
Several reports have detailed the problems faced by asylum seekers in direct provision. However, although asylum seekers are never just victims of the system and although many have used inventive strategies to improve their condition despite not being allowed to work or study, only recently has a group of residents decided to spell the realities of their incarceration out.
Contrary to the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA)’s own House Rules and Procedures booklet, this group – residing in Eyre Powell Hotel in Co Kildare – has outlined the realities of their existence. Let me look at some of RIA’s regulations and some of the realities.
Regulation 1.9 commits to cater for “ethnic food preferences... tea and coffee making facilities... outside normal mealtimes” and 1.10 to “provide soap, shampoo and toothpaste... [and] give new supplies when you need them.”
The reality, says the group, is a lack of basic provisions: no tissues, soap or shampoos, none of these issued after 5pm, and no ethnic foods, just a steady stream of chicken nuggets, white rice, ketchup, vegetables and chips daily, and a distinct lack of toddler appropriate foods.
Regulation 1.7 declares that the centre will provide varied and nutritional breakfast, lunch and dinner. In reality, according to the group, staff often say there are no eggs, sugar, coffee, cereal or milk, and provide expired milk. Their complains go on: “We sometimes go hungry... no salads, few fruits... not enough cutlery and crockery... Halal food not provided, utensils to serve pork used to serve all foods... fake menus displayed and staff dismiss complaints...”
Regulation 1.2 says that accommodation must be safe, hospitable and clean; 1.15 says the centre will provide adequate beddings and bed linen, and replace bed linen and towels when needed.
The truth, says the group, is dilapidated furniture in common areas; infestations of cockroaches and mice; generally poor hygiene and upkeep; and no extra bedding apart from an initial set on arrival. Repeated requests for their entitlements are ignored, they argue.
Most crucially, residents say they are met with harassment and intimidation by staff. Management has allegedly used foul language when addressing residents, threatening them with transfer to a distant location, and treats people of white or Arabic origin differently from black Africans. The residents provided a photograph of racist language displayed in the reception area.
The realities of life in asylum hostels as outlined by this brave group of residents remind us once again of the precarious situation of asylum seekers, who are here legally to seek our protection, but who are incarcerated in these holding centres. Not allowed to work or study in third level institutions, they are a captive population, living on a ‘comfort allowance’ of €19.10 per adult per week (not raised since 2001), which they often have to spend on basic needs.
The State – but also we, its citizens – places these humans fleeing persecution at the mercy of ruthless managers, whose sole aim is to make money from the misfortunes of their charges.
The only solution is to put and end to this travesty by closing all asylum hostels immediately and regularise the position of the small number of asylum seekers currently in the state (as of December 2011, a mere 0.02% of the Irish population) to allow them to work and be productive.
Dr Ronit Lentin is head of the MPhil in Race, Ethnicity, Conflict at the Department of Sociology at Trinity College Dublin. Her column appears fortnightly in Metro Éireann.
