Kosovan refugees in Ireland are being refused permission to stay overnight with relatives in other centres.
Refugee Agency policy is that refugees may visit relatives and friends at other centres but must find and pay for their own accommodation.
The stipulation remains in place despite the increased space arising from the return home of a fifth of the Kosovars who came to the Republic during the war.
Refugees in Waterford said yesterday they were grateful for everything the Irish Government and people had done for them. "I am very happy to be among Irish people," said Mr Ibrahim Osmani, a textile engineer. "People have helped us from the start in every way they can and things are getting better and better."
There is some frustration, however, over the lack of living space; entire families live in single rooms and must share bathroom and kitchen facilities with others. The other sour note is the ban on overnight visitors.
Mr Ismail Qerimi, a bookshop owner and publisher whose collection of 6,000 books was burned when his home near Pristina was attacked, has two family members - his mother and a brother - living in the refugee centre in Tralee.
When Mr Qerimi went to visit them with his wife and three young children, he had to pay £30 for them to stay in a hostel. "It wasn't good. The rooms were dirty and there were insects everywhere," he said.
His mother is a diabetic and is in hospital. "I would like to visit her more often but I can't because it is too expensive. This is the only problem I have here," he said.
Other Waterford residents said they were told the centre, the former Ursuline Convent on Ballytruckle Road, was to be their home. "What kind of home is it when you can't invite visitors to stay?" asked one.
Mr John O'Neill, director of the Refugee Agency, said the overnight policy was standard in various forms of residential accommodation, and was "based on practical considerations such as space and insurance".
The agency did not wish to be inflexible, he said, but many Kosovars had relatives at other centres and "when you have a rule and make exceptions to it, it's quite difficult to draw the line". There had to be "standard operating procedures" and consistency in implementing them, he said.
He added that lack of space was still an issue at the centres as the extra room created when some returned home had been allocated to those who had remained.
Despite these problems refugees insisted they did not want a negative picture to go out of their experiences since arriving in Ireland in September.
"We are delighted with how Irish people and the staff at the centre have welcomed us here," said Mr Qerimi. Waterford-based Kosovars are particularly appreciative of the English language classes which were set up shortly after their arrival.
"When I arrived I had just a little bit of English; now I can understand and speak a lot more," said Mr Lulzim Muhaxheri, who is attending an English and computers course with many of his colleagues and has also taken a part-time job in McDonald's. His wife, Haxhere, gave birth to a boy, Ilir, at Waterford Regional Hospital a month ago.
The centre now has 129 residents, about 50 fewer than arrived in Waterford in September. Children are attending three local primary schools and, according to the adults, are mixing well with their Irish classmates.
