1,400 homeless asylum applicants included four children who had to sleep rough

Of the four children, two have since been taken into Tusla’s care, having confirmed their ages, and the other two are awaiting reassessments while living in adult accommodation. Picture: iStock

Almost 1,400 international protection applicants have been forced into homelessness this year due to a lack of State accommodation, including four children who are unaccompanied.

Some of the refugees arriving in Ireland have found themselves without a place to stay for up to 10 weeks according to a report by the Irish Refugee Council.

The study outlined the impact of homelessness on already vulnerable asylum- seekers arriving here, as well as associated health and safety risks.

The report, Now I Live On The Road, is based on interviews with international protection applicants and testimonies from frontline service providers such as GPs and charity sector staff.

The Government has said it is dealing with a refugee crisis of unprecedented scale, having seen almost 100,000 people arrive in a year. At one point this year, 593 people seeking protection were homeless, including 56 couples and seven single women who have been forced to sleep rough.

The council expressed “deep concern” at the cases of four unaccompanied children who it said had been forced to rough sleep for up to six weeks after being assessed as ineligible for State childcare services, due to uncertainty over their ages. 

CEO Nick Henderson said the Irish Refugee Council was extremely concerned about safeguards identifying 'unaccompanied children, pregnant women, and people with serious mental and physical health concerns'. File picture: Linkedin

Of the four children, the council said, two have since been taken into Tusla’s care, having confirmed their ages, and the other two have received evidence of their age and are awaiting reassessments while living in adult accommodation.

The council said that it had also supported three pregnant women who were homeless and dozens of people with serious physical and mental health conditions.

Irish Refugee Council CEO Nick Henderson said: “The findings of this report show not only a loss of dignity, but destitution among those who have been forced into homelessness. 

"We acknowledge the work being done by the Department of Children and civil servants, but this situation is a new low in the history of refugee protection in this country and represents a breakdown of Ireland’s protection and reception system.

“We call on all of government to fulfil its duties to provide reception conditions. 

We are extremely concerned that safeguards have not been put in place to identify vulnerable people, including unaccompanied children, pregnant women, and people with serious mental and physical health concerns.

The report says it is imperative that, at a minimum, homelessness among people seeking protection ceases and does not recur.