Ruane calls for end of Direct Provision system

Call for end to Direct Provision after ‘damning’ report on Ballyhaunis asylum centre


Edwin McGreal

The system of Direct Provision for housing refugees and asylum seekers in asylum centres such as the Old Convent in Ballyhaunis must be ended.
That is the strident view of Therese Ruane, the founder of Mayo Intercultural Action, who was speaking after a report in last Tuesday’s Irish Times which described ‘dismal conditions’ in centres such as the one in Ballyhaunis. The article was based on unpublished inspection reports.
Ms Ruane, who is also a Sinn Fein member of Castlebar Town Council, said much of what is described in the report corroborates what she has seen with her own eyes at the Old Convent in Ballyhaunis.
“It is good to see the report calling for what we said ourselves,” she told The Mayo News. “It’s a damning report. We [MIA] have a women’s group from the centre every Tuesday morning.
“That group is meeting now for four years and it was set up because things were so bad in the hostel. Things there are getting worse. MIA were raising this ten years ago. MIA was founded because of Ballyhaunis and the poor track record there.
“We’ve been raising concerns but they’ve been falling on deaf ears, it is not a political issue and there is little political will for it. Conditions there are cramped, the food is very poor. The roof fell in on one room when a young baby was in the room. I’ve seen the tiny rooms with entire families living in there and children lying on the floor trying to do homework. It is no space for a family.
“They receive €19.10 a week, they cannot cook what they want and they cannot provide for the needs of their families.
“There a wide range of concerns that I have. Do we need to wait for another Ryan Report before we do something about Direct Provision?,” she asked.
She called on An Taoiseach Enda Kenny to take immediate action.
“The system of Direct Provision was originally designed to accommodate a person for up to six months, but the reality is the majority of people in direct provision have been living there for over three years, and for many up to six and seven years.
“Residents become institutionalised, experience social exclusion, and mental health difficulties due to the delay in processing protection applications, enforced unemployment, enforced poverty, and very limited access to education and training. People are forced to live in abject poverty and in cramped and unsuitable conditions with no right to work.
“I’m appealing to An Taoiseach to act and give a group of very vulnerable people the respect, dignity and protection they deserve,” she said.