Urgent need for 'robust, mature' system to handle numbers seeking international protection

The situation was no longer “unprecedented”, she told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland. Since the war had broken out in Ukraine it had been known that “this was coming” and that the pressure on services was likely to happen.

Chief commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, Sinead Gibney has called for a “robust, mature” system to deal with the reality of the numbers seeking international protection in Ireland.

This follows news from the Department of Integration on Monday, who confirmed that all available accommodation has been taken and those arriving in Ireland face the prospect of sleeping on the streets.

The situation was no longer “unprecedented”, she told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland. Since the war had broken out in Ukraine it had been known that “this was coming” and that the pressure on services was likely to happen.

The State needed to address the medium and long-term issue and handing recently arrived applicants vouchers and a sleeping bag was not the solution, particularly at a time when temperatures were falling and there was anti-immigrant sentiment in the wake of the recent Dublin riot.

Homeless services were already stretched to capacity and the State was not meeting the basic rights of international asylum seekers in line with its EU obligations, she added.

Speaking in Dublin on Monday, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said there is concern about the safety of those who cannot be accommodated.

The Tánaiste said the accommodation situation is “challenging”, adding that those claiming the Government could have foreseen the issue are adopting a “too simplistic” approach.

“We have about 100,000 Ukrainians, 70,000-odd of which we are accommodating via the state and about 26,000 international protection asylum seekers," he said.

“I think it’s a reflection of significant instability across the world where pressure is growing and continues to grow because of war and conflict, particularly in Ukraine but also the Middle East," he added.

Ms Gibney acknowledged the “incredible work” that had been done to date by “State employees and civil society”, but pointed out that people had the right to seek international protection in Ireland and they had the right while that claim was being processed, to have their basic needs met. “It is impossible to see how that's happening in this sort of circumstances.

Ms Gibney urged the government to source accommodation for those seeking international protection to "meet the basic needs" of these individuals while addressing long-term issues.

“Because we knew this was coming, the State knew this was coming, the Government knew this was coming. And since the war started in Ukraine 18 months ago, we knew that these numbers were likely to happen. The projections all said so. I do not see the development of that medium and long term planning,"

“These numbers aren't going anywhere. They're only going to increase with climate crisis. So what we need to see is a system like our health system or our education system, which deals with that reality in a mature way.

The State needs to reach its obligations under the EU Receptions Directive, Ms Gibney added.

"And in my mind as a state, we should be going beyond that and offering better conditions. What we see is that migration to this country, inward migration is a positive thing, whether that's people coming in through international protection, refugee systems or through economic migrant migration. 

"And we need to be positive about this. We also need to see political leadership when people in positions of power are not talking about this in the emergency way and in the burdened kind of language that we're used to and instead frame it differently.”

However, the Tánaiste stressed it is not just Ireland struggling with this issue, which is happening across Europe and in many parts of the United States.

He said New York City had seen severe pressure on its system due to migration.