Refugee accommodation shortage merits public concern and debate

The last of the Ukrainian families accommodated in tents at the Electric Picnic site in Stradbally, Co. Laois are due to leave their tents this week. As falling temperatures signal the change of seasons these families are no doubt relieved to be moving on. It has since been reported that up to 950 Ukrainian refugees will be accommodated in cabins at the site, with contracts due to start next month. However, hundreds more people seeking international protection continue to live in tented accommodation at sites in Dublin, Mullingar and Knockalisheen in Co. Clare.

Conditions at these sites are challenging; mobile heaters and army tents are no match for frosty nights, wind and driving rain.

At UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, we believe that the use of tents to accommodate asylum-seekers is not appropriate. They should only be used when absolutely necessary, when better solutions have been explored and even then, only as a temporary measure. Minister Roderic O’ Gorman, who has responsibility for this area, said recently that tented accommodation is not an optimal accommodation solution. However, faced with the numbers continuing to arrive here, he said options are limited and “. . . tented accommodation forms part of those options”.

[ Taoiseach concedes refugees may be housed in tents during winter months ]

The continued arrival of refugees from Ukraine is without doubt putting the Government under significant pressure on the accommodation front. The Taoiseach’s recent comments that Ireland may opt to make financial contributions to help frontline border states, in lieu of volunteering to take in more asylum seekers, served to highlight this. About 94,000 people have registered in Ireland for temporary protection since the invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. Applications for asylum from individuals from other countries are also higher than years gone by, though still only a fraction of those arriving from Ukraine.

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Supply targets of 33,000 units per year up to 2030 were based on net inward migration of 30,000 at the higher end. But net inward migration has been greater than 30,000 every year since 2018

The numbers are striking and highlight the importance of sustainable long-term planning and innovative solutions, to our accommodation challenges in particular. However, the cracks in government planning for the long-term, not least when it comes to housing supply, are already apparent. The Government’s housing policy, Housing for All, has set targets based on inward migration projections that have been exceeded for several years now. Supply targets of 33,000 units per year up to 2030 were based on net inward migration of 30,000 at the higher end. But net inward migration has been greater than 30,000 every year since 2018 (with the exception of 2021 which was impacted by Covid-19) while the latest net migration figures, as of April 2023, were more than twice what had been anticipated, with Ukrainian arrivals the biggest driver of this increase.

It is time for an honest discussion about whether these targets need to be reviewed and potentially revised upwards, something the Taoiseach has previously alluded to. If there is no improvement in the overall supply of accommodation, there will be serious consequences for asylum seekers and refugees who are more likely to struggle to find suitable accommodation. Research conducted by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has found that black people and people of other ethnic groups are more likely to experience discrimination in accessing accommodation. As it stands, there are close to 6,000 people whose applications for status have been accepted, but who continue to live in accommodation centres for asylum seekers because they cannot find accommodation in the private sector.

[ Stradbally refugee tent accommodation offers ‘safety and security’ as a ‘short-term measure’ ]

While the numbers arriving into Ireland are manageable, it is important to be honest and acknowledge they are significant. But much like the response to the pandemic, there is evidence that, when faced with significant challenges, the Government can innovate and adopt novel approaches to meet those challenges. Rapid-build modular homes have been completed as quickly as their name suggests once suitable sites were found, providing accommodation for hundreds of Ukrainian families. Refurbished vacant buildings and non-residential buildings have been brought back into use. The modular homes in particular have been cited by housing experts as a part of a potential solution to the overall housing crisis – evidence that solutions prompted and implemented by the arrival of refugees, if expanded, can benefit the population as a whole.

Communities need to be reassured that their efforts will be matched by efficient planning and innovation on the part of government and local authorities to meet their needs and the needs of their families

The fact of new arrivals can be seen as an opportunity and one that Ireland is well-placed to capitalise on. There are labour shortages in many sectors, with unemployment now at a near record low of 4.2 per cent. It is also worth remembering that as a country Ireland managed inward migration very successfully from 2004 to 2007, when Poland and nine other countries joined the EU. Over the course of several years back, then 420,000 new personal public service numbers were issued to people arriving into Ireland, a rate of inward migration the country had never seen before. The glaring difference between those years and today however is that the average number of house and apartment completions was approximately 82,000 a year then; last year it was just under 32,000.

[ State will fall short of its housing targets, Sinn Féin claims ]

Local communities have been extraordinarily welcoming towards new arrivals, in particular since the invasion of Ukraine. Innovative solutions, like the vacant home scheme and families and individuals hosting Ukrainians fleeing war are recognised by other countries in Europe as best practice. But these communities need to be reassured that their efforts will be matched by efficient planning and innovation on the part of government and local authorities to meet their needs and the needs of their families. Their efforts should be acknowledged and encouraged. Communities should not be disadvantaged as a result of any strain on existing services.

Most Irish people understand that the more extreme opposition to asylum seekers witnessed in recent weeks and months is not representative of the general population. People do have genuine concerns and anxieties though about the lack of planning and limited accommodation options, and their concerns must be acknowledged and responded to. Unlike a growing number of countries across Europe, Ireland has not seen a significant rise in the politics of the far-right; the most effective way to guard against any such rise here is to support successful integration by meeting the needs of the population, both the new arrivals and existing communities.

Enda O’Neill is head of office at the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency