Download the Leaflet

REFUGEES ARE ALL MEN. THERE ARE NO WOMEN AND CHILDREN

• Asylum and refugee centres are communal living spaces. As in all such places there are some arrangements and segregation rules put in place for the purpose of gender privacy, complying with child friendly living arrangements and family life. Gender appropriated facilities must be in place, such as bathrooms, toilettes, baby changing rooms
• Some facilities, especially those used for emergency accommodation have no proper facilities to cater for all types of people (single people, families, children)
• Some of these facilities use bunk beds in a room to accommodate multiple same gender people together
• For example, just because East Wall had 2 Bus -full of men does not mean asylum seekers in Ireland are mostly men. These men are picked from other, some better equipped centres to make space for families, women with children. Half of the asylum seekers and refugees in Ireland are women and children
• Some centres have mostly women/children, some are mixed and families, others single people only.

THEY ARE NOT VETTED

• Coming to Ireland is not simply jumping on a plane and arriving here.
• Non-EU Migrants: Must have a valid visa/work permit issued by the Irish state. This is a detailed and strict process
• UN Program Refugees: Are vetted, security checked by the UN and the Irish government
• EU Settlement Refugees: Are vetted and security checked by the Irish government
• Asylum Seekers: Every asylum seeker arriving to Ireland registers with the state at the port of arrival. They don’t have choice. They also register with the office dealing with asylum application, IPO International Protection Office, and the Gardai. They go through detailed vetting and interview processes as part of their application. The state checks details of their past lives etc.

WHY ARE THEY COMING TO OUR NEIGHBOURHOOD?

• Asylum seekers are not sent randomly to places. Where they go depends on available facilities due to the pressures of housing the Ukrainian refugees who also need places to stay
• The reasons they are settled in places such as the building in East Wall is because they are not given proper homes…They are NOT taking homes from councils
• These places are temporary/emergency centres until more permanent direct provision centres are established

BLACK MEN SCARE OUR FAMILIES

This is exactly what the far-right says… We are not racist, but we don’t want black men… This is about hate and lies! This is all about pretending to have “concerns” but in fact it’s all about racism

CRIME, OUR COMMUNITY IS WORRIED

• Ireland’s crime rates have fallen hugely between 2010 to 2015. Near 45% decrease going from 1.21 per 100,000 people to 0.67 per 100,000 people
• 2015 to 2018 the crime rate climbed, going from 0.67 per 100,000 people to 0.87 per 100,000 people
• Recently for 2019 and 2020, many forms of crime saw an extreme decrease
• There is no evidence of crimes increasing due to asylum seekers or refugees
• These centres are access controlled and people cannot come in and out as they wish

GOVERNMENT IS NOT CONSULTING US

• The government must be more transparent and up-front. They have a terrible practice of not consulting working class communities on ANY development
• They are doing a bad job. But nobody has a veto on who becomes your neighbour

WE ARE NOT AGAINST ASYLUM SEEKERS WE ARE AGAINST GOVERNMENT WAY OF DOING THINGS

• Protesting at the asylum accommodation centres where people are forced to stay and chanting “GET THEM OUT” is not going to hurt the government but only those inside living in fear
• The best response is to take part at the housing and other social justice campaigns and demand HOMES FOR ALL

HOUSE THE IRISH FIRST! WHY ARE THEY GIVEN THESE PLACES WHILE THERE ARE IRISH FAMILIES ON THE WAITING LIST…

• First of all, because these places would not be suitable for families who need permanent homes
• Asylum seekers are not on any housing list and are NOT given any homes…
• To house the Irish and all the government must build homes and take over the 166,000 vacant homes and put them to use

GLOBAL REFUGEE AND ASYLUM FACTS

WHAT CAUSES REFUGEES/ASYLUM SEEKERS?

WARS, CLIMATE CHANGE, HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES, GENDER OPPRESSION, CHRONIC POWERTY AND DEATH

BLAME THE GOVERNMENTS FOR THESE. NOT THE VICTIMS

• 103 MILLION Forcibly displaced people worldwide
• 53.2 MILLION Internally displaced people
• 36% Hosted in five countries (Turkey, Colombia, Germany, Pakistan, Uganda)
• 74% Hosted in low/middle-income countries. Not in the EU!
• 69% Hosted in neighbouring countries
• 36.5 million are children

The racists and far-right groups continue to exploit the housing crisis and blame migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers for the deepening problem.

They use slogans such as “house the Irish first”, “Ireland is full” and “look after our own first”. In a recession when unemployment is high, they will focus on jobs. It will be “Irish jobs for Irish workers”. At present it is obviously housing. These slogans may sound ‘reasonable’ but they are in fact demands for extreme racist discrimination.

‘The problem’ (housing or jobs or lack of GP’s) is not caused by migrants or foreigners. These are caused by government policies and the economic system we live in. 

There are enough empty houses in the State to house everybody. There is enough money and resources to build public housing. But the political rulers are not interested in the wellbeing of ordinary people. Instead, they continue to look after the interests of landlords. As I am writing these lines, 35 families, Irish and migrants, are served eviction notice by their Irish landlord.

There is a problem with adequate housing but it’s not because of too much demand caused by immigration. The problem is not too many people – foreign born or Irish, black or white. We have a population in the Republic of only 5 million. That’s 3 million less than what it was before the Famine.

The government are not building enough public housing on public land – like they did in the 40’s through to the 80’s. House prices and rents are not ‘affordable’ – they’re ridiculous! These are hiked by the profiteering landlords

Welcome Refugees and Asylum Seekers

No to Racism | Housing for All