UN refugee agency calls on Irish Government to end asylum seeker homelessness and use of tents

Asylum seekers’ tents outside the International Protection Office on Mount Street Dublin 2023.

THE UN’S REFUGEE agency has called on the Irish Government take “extraordinary measures” to end homelessness among asylum seekers and to take steps towards ending the use of emergency accommodation.

In a report submitted to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, UNHCR made a number of recommendations related asylum seekers.

They included:

Ending homelessness among international protection applicants (asylum seekers).
• Eliminating the reliance on tented accommodation 
• Eliminating reliance on emergency accommodation, including for unaccompanied children
• Applying the National Standards for accommodation to all state provided accommodation 

The report noted that 900 newly arrived asylum seekers have not been given a place to stay and in some cases those people have ended up sleeping rough.

“While UNHCR acknowledges that the Government is facing significant challenges securing suitable accommodation for new arrivals, it has a moral and legal obligation to meet the basic needs of people who come to Ireland seeking safety,” the organisation said in a statement.

“This is an emergency situation which requires the Government to take extraordinary measures to ensure it can meet these basic humanitarian needs.”

UNHCR also welcomed the appointment of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) as the agency with responsibility for monitoring the quality of Direct Provision centres.

“However, the majority of applicants, more than 17,000, are accommodated in emergency centres across Ireland. These centres are not subject to independent inspections,” UNHCR said.

The 18-member UN Committee will consider Ireland’s compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights tomorrow morning.