'They are grateful for a place to be quiet': Ukrainian refugees sleeping on floor of Dublin Airport
New arrivals to Ireland fleeing war in Ukraine and asylum seekers from other countries are staying at the old terminal building in Dublin Airport. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin
Refugees fleeing Ukraine who had to sleep on mattresses and the bare floor of the old terminal building at Dublin Airport last night were grateful for a place that was quiet.
New arrivals to Ireland fleeing war in Ukraine and asylum seekers from other countries are staying at the old terminal building in Dublin Airport, as there are no spaces available in State-provided accommodation.
Around 250 people are staying at the old terminal building at the airport - of those about 150 are women and children fleeing their home in Ukraine.
Margarita Kalinichenko, a volunteer with the Ukrainian Action Group, told that people who arrived on Wednesday slept on the floor in the old terminal building at the airport.
Ms Kalinichenko said she was told of about 150 people for whom there was no accommodation as Citywest was now at capacity. Some slept on mattresses while others were on the bare floor, she said.
“They are very grateful for the place to be quiet at the moment, and they're not demanding or something. They're very grateful for what they have. But they slept on the bare floor yesterday.”
This situation was not different from conditions for refugees arriving in Poland and Germany. People coming from Ukraine had been warned about the lack of accommodation in Ireland.
“They have all the options in front of them and they need to decide where it is better to go”.
Tents will be erected on the grounds of Citywest campus in Dublin as the country has run out of State-provided accommodation for asylum seekers and Ukrainian refugees.
The convention centre in Citywest, which opened as a processing centre for Ukrainians and asylum seekers in March, is operating well beyond capacity, with dozens of arrivals sleeping on chairs.
The State has now effectively run out of accommodation options, which has resulted in a huge backlog at the Citywest campus, and the erection of tents is viewed as a short-term solution.
Government agencies are also attempting to locate other temporary centres in which arrivals can be processed and accommodated until longer-term solutions are found.
A tented village, constructed at the Gormanstown camp in Co Meath last March as a contingency plan to house Ukrainian refugees, is also now set to be opened due to the lack of alternative accommodation.
While the Citywest Convention Centre was initially opened as an overflow facility for the processing centre in Dublin Airport for Ukrainian refugees, the majority of those now “stuck” there are asylum seekers from other countries applying under the International Protection Service (IPS) system.
This situation is being attributed to an increase in applicants but also, according to separate sources, because some accommodation providers will only take refugees from the Ukrainian War.
“The Ukrainian people are generally women and children while a lot of the IPS people tend to be young, single men,” one source familiar with Citywest said.
“Whether that’s the reason why Ukrainians are being preferred by hotels and B&Bs or there is more to it, we don’t know.”
The chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council Nick Henderson said the latest developments are very concerning.
“It’s plain to see that conditions in direct provision have deteriorated drastically in recent months,” he said.
“There is an urgent need for a new plan to address this unprecedented situation. We need an all-government approach with other departments pulling their weight to support the Department of Children.”
The secretary general of the Irish Red Cross, Liam O’Dwyer, has defended the use of a tented village at Gormanston College to provide accommodation for refugees from Ukraine arriving into the country.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s , Mr O’Dwyer said that such accommodation was not an unusual response in an emergency situation and this was an emergency situation.
On Wednesday night Irish NGOs supporting Ukrainians were told by the Department of Children that it has had to pause the intake of new arrivals into existing State accommodation because it had run out of available beds and space at Citywest and had no immediate contingency plan in place.
As a result, refugees arriving at the country’s ports were now remaining there sleeping on chairs and on camp beds until there was a facility ready for them. “I think that’s the case. I don’t know,” admitted Mr O’Dwyer.
The situation will change in the coming days, he said as the tented facilities at Gormanston become available and people move into pledged accommodation which will free up space in facilities like Citywest.
The Government was also trying to get accommodation in larger institutional buildings ready for use, he added. Later in the autumn there would also be modular homes for 2,000 people.
However, Mr O’Dwyer expressed concern for people arriving from Ukraine without proper passports or documentation. “The worry is that people will be turned away or sent back”.
In the first five months of this year, 4,896 people applied for international protection in the state, according to Department of Justice figures.
Over 40,000 people have also arrived in Ireland from Ukraine, since the Russian invasion began on February 24.
By comparison, in 2019, there were 4,781 applications for international protection for the whole year, while the previous year the total was 3,674.
In the early 2000s, applications were running at nearly 12,000 per annum and if the current rate continues that figure may be surpassed.
There has been a general increase in applicants under the International Protection System throughout Europe this year. Much of that is being attributed to increased movements following two years of restrictions on travel due to the pandemic.
There are also ongoing conflicts causing people to flee, and the effects of climate change are impacting living conditions for others in the developing world.
Another issue that may be feeding into the increase in applicants in this country is the UK’s decision to remove asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Some of those who would have had the UK as their final destination are now believed to be entering this state through Northern Ireland.
It is as yet unclear exactly how much impact the UK’s Rwanda policy has had on the increase in applicants in this jurisdiction.
The housing crisis has resulted in those who have been granted residency in the State remaining in direct provision centres because they are unable to source their own accommodation.
The Department of Children has said the Government is “working intensively to put alternative arrangements in place with immediate effect”.
The Taoiseach will also meet ministers to discuss the situation and review the current policies and processes.
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