Red Cross: Tents not a long-term solution for refugees on dignity grounds

Housing refugees in tents for long periods of time is not encouraged due to the impact it has on people’s dignity, the head of the Red Cross has said.

The Government confirmed two weeks ago that it would have to house newly arrived Ukrainian refugees in tents due to a “significant shortfall” in available accommodation.

The summer months have seen an increase in the numbers arriving from Ukraine, with more than 10,000 people fleeing to Ireland since May 1st, an average of around 650 per week, the Department of Equality said.

Speaking during a visit to Dublin, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies secretary general Jagan Chapagain said there was “tremendous solidarity” for refugees in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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However, he said the situation “could last much longer than we would want” and that “solidarity and generosity will be needed in the medium term”.

“We need to stop…using the words migrants and refugees. It’s people. We’re talking about people, just like you and me, just like our families, our children, our parents. Treating people as people is extremely important.”

The global outpouring of support for Ukraine is a positive thing, he said, but there is a need to “expand that” and apply it to other crises happening across the world.

Asked about the provision of support to Ukrainian refugees in the State, Mr Chapagain said in the beginning “Ireland was not prepared to receive so many people in such a short period of time”.

“Of course in the early days, some of the measures put in place may not be optimal. But I think over a period of time, it is important to make sure basic standards are met,” he said.

“Globally, we don’t encourage to keep people in tents except for a short period of time, just because it doesn’t provide a needed dignity for people to live over a period of time. For a short time, if we have to do it, we have to do it.”

Deirdre Garvey, secretary general of the Irish Red Cross, said Irish support for Ukrainian refugees remains very strong, with the organisation housing around 120 Ukrainians every week.

She said that of the Irish hosts surveyed about whether they would continue to accommodate refugees, 83 per cent said they would sign another agreement.

In addition to the Ukraine crisis, there are many other live humanitarian crises including recent flooding in Libya and a devastating earthquake in Morocco, which has led to more than 2,800 deaths with thousands of others missing.

“Unfortunately, I think the final picture will be much worse than what we know so far,” Mr Chapagain said of the disasters. “There will be huge psychosocial support needed because people have been still sleeping outside, there is trauma.”

The Irish Red Cross said that by Tuesday afternoon €30,000 had been raised for Morocco through online donations since Monday afternoon.