End Direct Provision

By Philomena Foster

The numbers of people looking for asylum are likely to increase in the coming years as the climate crisis displaces more people around the world. Nearly 150 million could be forced to leave their homes by 2050. 

At the moment, people are escaping from lots of different countries -- Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Myanmar, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo -- for many different reasons: war, economic crisis, human rights violations, famine, and the climate crisis. Women and LGBTQ people often flee their countries for fear of being killed or abused, because of their sexual orientation, being sold off to be married, and in some countries there are no laws against rape.

However, the Direct Provision system, first introduced in 1999 by Fianna Fáil as a “temporary measure” to deal with the rapid increase in numbers of asylum seekers, treats migrants inhumanely and needs to go.  

Inhumane living conditions

In Direct Provision centres there is no privacy and no independent living, everything is controlled. In most centres asylum seekers can’t cook their own food or even clean their own spaces. Meals and mealtimes are strictly set, and queuing for food is humiliating.

Asylum seekers receive €21.60/week, which is mostly used on phone credit and internet to check their asylum status or to talk with family, to keep in touch with mothers, fathers, siblings, and in some cases to keep in touch with their partners and children.

They want to work and be accepted into society. Because asylum seekers are in limbo waiting for their appeals they cannot get a secure job. After nine months in the country they are eligible to apply for a letter of permission to work. They get permission for only six months, after six months they have to apply again, on and on until they get their asylum. What place is gonna give you a job for only six months? Why would they train you only to have you gone after six months? 

Mental health is a huge problem as depression, boredom, isolation, and fear take over people’s lives. Keep in mind they have already likely suffered tragedy and trauma. A number of people have died by suicide. How many? We don’t know. They don’t seem to keep track. The spread of the coronavirus in Direct Provision centres, and the lack of measures taken to protect those who live there, shows just how little the establishment values their lives.

All about the profits

"Why can't you allow us to even clean the place where we live in!? Just because someone wants to collect money. Why can't you allow us to cook our own food. Because someone wants to make money from it." 

Direct provision is big business. The state has paid over €1 billion in the 20 years since the first Direct Provision centre opened, mostly to private companies who provide catering and cleaning in addition to the centres themselves. In 2019 the Department of Justice and Equality issued another 65 million in tenders for New direct provision centres.

This is absolute madness when all of this money could have been used for proper housing for asylum seekers, allowing them to be part of the community and able to work. Everyone has something to offer within communities if we only would allow them. 

We demand an end to Direct Provision and for asylum seekers be granted the right to housing in the community, the right to work without restriction, and the right to education.