The Irish State’s integration policy plan omits to mention it is aimed only at those migrants who are here to work. No integration plan exists for asylum seekers – several thousands of whose applications have been ‘in process’ for up to five years – or to workers who become undocumented through no fault of their own. And make no mistake about it: when asked whether the Government intends to offer an amnesty to undocumented migrants, the Minister for Integration was clear that no such amnesty would be offered.
The Irish Times’ migration correspondent Ruadhán Mac Cormaic did well to remind us recently of the unacceptable living conditions of asylum seekers in direct provision. According to the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA), close to 6,000 asylum seekers are currently housed in 63 direct provision centres (four reception centres, 48 accommodation centres, 10 self catering units and three mobile home centres). This is down from 8,000 in 2005. Remarkably, 2.4 per cent of them are children born in Ireland (who, if born before 2004, are officially Irish citizens). The centres accommodate people from 80 nationalities; 66 per cent are Africans, 19 per cent come from Asia and 12 per cent from elsewhere in Europe.
Mac Cormaic’s account of the inspection of the centres reveals gross health and safety infringements. In some centres there were “significant plumbing issues”, in others serious problems with food storage, and in one there were no safety chains on third floor windows. While proprietors and managers assured the RIA that problems identified by the inspectors would be addressed, the inspectors’ report did not involve the views of the residents themselves.
However, anyone researching the experiences of asylum seekers in these direct provision centres – most of which are managed by commercial management firms, hoteliers and catering companies, and a minority by church organisations – knows the sad reality of life for asylum seekers.
Not only do they have to exist on a paltry ‘comfort allowance’ of 19.10 euro per adult and 9.50 euro per child – an allowance not raised since first introduced in 2001 – their children have since 2004 been denied entitlement to child benefit. Asylum seekers are not permitted to work or access formal education, and many complain of desperate boredom. This often leads to feuds and conflicts and is particularly difficult for men, not accustomed to a life of idleness.
In some of the centres, food is reheated and toilets are not cleaned on weekends. In others, large families have to share small single rooms with all the ensuing problems that entails. Psychological issues such as depression and anxiety are common, and some asylum seekers say they are treated ‘like animals’, living without hope or a future.
As we consider the issues surrounding immigration and immigrants, we should spare a thought for these people – consigned to direct provision, deprived of the chance to work and contribute, living in limbo as the decision regarding their status is often delayed for years.
As the sociologist Zygmunt Bauman defines it, asylum seekers denote “wasted lives” – they live on the rubbish heaps of global Ireland in unhygienic conditions, not all-owed to cook their own food or determine their own actions, unable to travel or visit friends and family, or give their children a treat. Asylum seekers in Ireland are the poorest of the poor, cut off from society, and largely forgotten.
Dr Ronit Lentin is head of the MPhil in Ethnic and Racial Studies at the Department of Sociology at Trinity College Dublin. Her column appears fortnightly in Metro Eireann
