Asylum seekers pay thousands to enter Ireland as they are 'much safer'

• Some 85 were tents seen on Mount Street Bridge and Huband Bridge yesterday

Undocumented asylum seekers are paying thousands of euros to enter the country via cruise ships from the UK, according to some of the new arrivals living in tents on the Grand Canal in Dublin.

There were a total of 85 tents lined up between Mount Street Bridge and Huband Bridge yesterday afternoon – a figure that has doubled in less than a week.

And one man from Egypt told the Irish Daily Mail that he feels safer here as ‘in England they will send him to Rwanda’.

While some of the homeless asylum seekers came from the former encampment outside the International Protection Office (IPO) on nearby Mount Street, others arrived in Ireland just days ago from the UK.

Taoiseach Simon Harris yesterday vowed that the encampment would not be allowed to remain in place for ‘weeks and weeks’.

Reda Alsaba from Egypt is just one of the refugees living in a tent on the Grand Canal

Abdul Rashid, 28, from Afghanistan, told the Mail that crossing the Irish Sea into Dublin was very straightforward as he did not need a passport.

He said he did not board a traditional ferry but paid approximately €2,000 for a cruise ship ticket.

‘I got a very big boat to Ireland only yesterday – it was like a hotel and they gave us food and everything,’ he said.

‘I didn’t need a passport because they only checked for tickets. This was my only option. We weren’t stopped coming off the boat and just walked off.’

Mr Rashid said he was forced to flee his home country when the Taliban took control.

‘I came from a very happy family with no problems until the Taliban came. My father was killed and the rest of my relatives had to leave their homes.

‘I paid €7,000 to get to France and had to cross six different countries to get there.

‘I spent 15 months in France, but they didn’t accept my papers so I had no other choice but to travel to the UK.’

The young man spent £1,700 (€1,977) to make the perilous journey across the English Channel on an inflatable dingy with around 55 people.

‘It was very dangerous and there were many families with children,’ he said.

But it was when he learned about the threat of being sent to Rwanda that Mr Rashid decided to try Ireland.

‘My hope is to finally settle down in Ireland and get my life back to normal. I would like to ensure my family’s safety in Afghanistan and then continue my education here,’ he said.

Khyber Ghurzng, 27, also from Afghanistan, said he arrived on the same ship as his friend Abdul.

‘We bought tickets but didn’t need passports,’ he said, before implying that they needed to be evasive to avoid being asked for them.

Olivia Headon, who is helping refugees on the banks of the Grand Canal

‘It cost €2,000 to come here. It was expensive but we didn’t have a choice, there was no other way.

‘I’m here now and I’m still questioning how I’m alive. Crossing the sea into the UK was so dangerous that I accepted death.

‘The boat we were on started to sink and water was coming past our legs, but thankfully the British coast guard came to rescue us’.

Mr Ghurzng said he’s very appreciative for the help he’s received in Ireland, despite not being provided with State accommodation.

‘I’m in a tent now but at least I’m with other people and getting help from volunteers. I remember spending weeks alone sleeping in forests with nothing but my backpack,’ he said.

Reda Alsaba from Egypt also said he arrived from the UK in recent weeks.

‘I feel much safer in Ireland because in England they want to send us all to Rwanda,’ he said. ‘I’m happy to be in this country and I think it will be a much nicer place to live because there is work and more opportunities here.’

Throughout the afternoon, the asylum seekers living on the Grand Canal socialised with one another and discussed their applications, along with utilising the charitable services available to them.

An experienced barber from Gaza was seen giving a haircut to a new arrival, leaving his grooming utensils on the lock near Mount Street Bridge.

On a number of occasions, passers-by shouted insults at them, with one woman becoming quite irate when an asylum seeker called her racist while she was taking a video of him.

Olivia Headon, a volunteer at the Grand Canal yesterday, said proving assistance to asylum seekers is essential since the Government are unable to accommodate them.

She said: ‘When asylum seekers arrive and register at the IPO they’re given a sheet that explains the services they can access, but not everyone can understand it.

‘What we do is make sure they know what’s available to them. We provide them with tents and other essential items that various charitable organisations supply, along with sharing information with them via WhatsApp.

‘We also buy a lot of stuff with private donations from friends and families as we’re not an organisation or getting grants from the Government.

‘We’re five minutes away from Baggot Street Hospital and every single person here along with all the rough sleepers in Dublin could be housed there tomorrow.

‘There’s also an abundance of empty offices in Dublin and they’re not providing any purpose at the moment.’

Meanwhile, the Taoiseach has vowed that the migrants sleeping in tents at the Grand Canal will not be allowed to stay there for much longer.

‘We need to see a multi-agency response where we don’t have some sort of national game of pass the parcel in relation to responding to the very significant humanitarian situation,’ Mr Harris said.

‘What we saw in relation to Mount Street was utterly unacceptable; it was getting very near to a public health emergency.’

Mr Harris added that he will not allow the Grand Canal become another Mount Street encampment.

‘What happened on Mount Street was allowed to go on for weeks and weeks, and months and months in fact, this will not be the situation in relation to the Grand Canal. I’m very confident progress will be made in relation to this, both in terms of sites for people to safely sleep, safely live and safely access sanitation facilities,’ he added.

They are among 1,710 male asylum seekers without an offer of State accommodation, according to the Department of Integration.

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has claimed that the Government has ‘lost control’ of the immigration system.

He said failing to deport asylum seekers who do not qualify ‘sends a message internationally’.

‘We have a situation at the moment where the Government is spending quite a bit of money on a process to differentiate between those who need help and those who don’t,’ he told Newstalk.

‘Yet at the end of that process, when people have been decided upon that they’re not asylum seekers, 85% of those people find themselves not receiving an active deportation order.

‘I believe that’s putting an incredible pressure on the system.

‘If you have a system whereby you are not actioning deportation orders, that sends a message internationally that Ireland is a place where you can come.’

Mr Tóibín added that there is no system at Dublin Airport that confirms a person with a deportation order has actually left.

‘If you had a voluntary deportation system, at least to be some level of confirmation that it’s occurred,’ he said.

‘But the minister is admitting that there’s no system available at the moment to confirm the person has exited.’

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