Government has quietly shelved its plan to end direct provision

The direct provision system is something of a stain on the national conscience, drawing criticism from human rights organisations both at home and abroad. Established in 2000 as an emergency measure, it quickly became permanent. Intended to provide room and board for asylum seekers while their applications were processed, it morphed into some sort of Kafka-esque open-air prison system with applicants’ lives put on hold for years while they languished in substandard accommodation.

In February 2021, the Government finally announced it was going to put an end to the system and published a white paper to establish a new International Protection Support Service. It promised a “new permanent, professional and applicant-centred system of accommodation and support for those seeking international protection status, which will enable the State to fulfil our international commitments now and into the future”.

At its core was a commitment that applicants would only spend four months in a reception and integration centre before being housed in the community. Four options were to be pursued. Houses and apartments were to be built, bought or rented for families and vulnerable people. Single people would be accommodated in re-purposed unused buildings or via a rent-a-room scheme.

Almost exactly a year later, Russia invaded Ukraine. Over the next two years the authorities had to find accommodation for 75,000 Ukrainian refugees as well as 25,000 applicants for international protection. It put the existing system, which was based on 3,000 to 4,000 applicants a year, under huge strain.

British prime minister Rishi Sunak ‘not interested’ in deal with Ireland to return asylum seekers to UK

---

Aontú calls for ‘Irish Sea border in terms of people’ to ensure stricter immigration checks in Northern Ireland

---

UK police arrest three over migrants’ deaths in Channel

---

Michael D Higgins: ‘What I had was a form of mild stroke. It didn’t affect my cognitive abilities’

---

The war in Ukraine will inevitably end and recent measures – such as limiting the availability of state accommodation and financial support – have already seen arrivals from Ukraine fall. But the migration trends behind the increase in non-Ukrainian applications are less likely to dissipate.

[ More Ukrainian refugees now leaving State accommodation than entering the country ]

Last week the Government quietly and inevitably threw in the towel on its 2021 commitment when it published its comprehensive accommodation strategy for international protection applicants on the Thursday before Easter. Always a good time to bury bad news.

The new plan assumes that on average 13,000 to 16,000 people will seek asylum in Ireland each year over the next four years. In response, the State plans to build and operate reception and integration centres with the capacity for 14,000 people. The intention is to wind down the use of private sector accommodation and move to a predominantly State-owned system. The conversion of commercial properties will be part of the strategy, which also commits to avoiding the use of unsuitable locations, such as the “last hotel” in a rural town. This represents a tacit admission that there has been a hardening of public attitudes towards migrants since 2021 driven in part by groups opposed to immigration.

How long applicants will spend in the new centres is not entirely clear, but the four-month period envisioned in the 2021 plan is out the window. The new plan is based around “a large, core State-owned supply, concurrently delivering contingency, short-term and long-term accommodation solutions, along with accommodation for vulnerable applicants”.

The key words here being long-term. The plan does not spell out what long-term means in this context, but states that accommodation at reception and integration centres will be available to applicants for at least six months.

After that applicants will move to accommodation centres and remain there until they exit the protection process, which can take up to two or three years. Those granted status to remain in Ireland would be able to stay in accommodation centres for another 12 months.

It looks very like direct provision by another name, with the State running the centres. The Government will argue – not unreasonably – that effectively abandoning its 2021 commitment to end direct provision is a consequence of events largely outside its control. But that is not entirely accurate. The housing crisis that underlies the asylum seeker accommodation problem is within its control, even if a solution has escaped it.

[ South Sudan’s refugee crisis: ‘We’re missing our country, our place, our Ramadan’ ]

It is worth reminding ourselves what a long-term stay in direct provision is like for an asylum seeker. According to the 2017 report of the Working Group on the International Protection Process, the length of time they spent in direct provision was the key concern of asylum seekers.

It causes or exacerbates all other concerns, including the lack of personal autonomy over the most basic aspects of their lives and daily living such as cooking, going to the shops and cleaning, according to the report. It amplifies the lack of privacy, the boredom, the isolation and the impact of not being able to support themselves or their family and contribute to society in a meaningful way. It increases the impact on asylum seekers’ children of being born and spending their formative years in an institutional setting. It has consequences for the ability to parent to their full potential and lead a normal family life. It leads to a loss of skills and the creation of dependency as well as other negative consequences for physical, emotional and mental health.

No wonder the Government chose last Thursday to make the announcement.

[ Are asylum seekers good for the economy? Yes, if they are allowed to work ]