No obligation on international protection applicants to stay in State-provided accommodation

There is no obligation on international protection applicants to stay in State-provided accommodation, the Department of Integration has said following reports that a number of the people found in a container at Rosslare Europort on Monday have moved elsewhere.

According to The Irish Independent eight of the 14 people found in the refrigerated container at the Co Wexford port are no longer in State-provided accommodation.

A spokeswoman for the department said it would not be commenting on the report as international protection applicants are free to come and go as they please.

“Those entering the State either to claim international protection or as suspected victims of human trafficking are not required to reside in State-provided accommodation,” she said.

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Gardaí said “any query related to the current status of any international protection applicant is a matter for the International Protection Office” and that no criminal offence had been committed.

The 14 people boarded a vessel at Zeebrugge in Belgium and spent nearly two days at sea because of bad weather.

They thought they were going to the UK and alerted the authorities there to say their lives were in danger. They had to cut a hole in the side of the container to allow air in as they were struggling to breathe.

The group consisted of 10 Kurdish people from Iran and Iraq, including two girls aged six and four, one person from Turkey and three people from Vietnam.

[ Human trafficking investigation after migrants found in container at Rosslare Harbour ]

The nine men, three women and two girls were medically assessed and deemed to be in good health after arriving. They were moved to an asylum facility in Dublin on Monday, but, according to the Irish Independent report, a number of them are no longer there.

A garda spokesman said: “Gardaí in Wexford continue to investigate all of the circumstances of the discover of 14 persons concealed in a shipping container arriving in Rosslare Europort at approximately 3am on Monday, 8th January 2024.

“The evidence discovered in this case will ultimately determine whether this incident is a case of human trafficking or people smuggling, which, while both involve the illegal transportation of humans, the transportation is for a different purpose.

“People smuggling involves illegal immigrants making an illegal entry into Ireland. Illegal immigrants want to enter a destination country and often pay someone to facilitate their illegal entry.

“Human trafficking involves the recruitment, transportation and ultimately the exploitation of a victim, which can be for a number of reasons including labour exploitation, sexual exploitation, forced criminality or exploitation consisting of the removal of one or more of the organs of a person.”

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