Hundreds of asylum seekers moved after ‘tent town’ dismantled as Simon Harris hails ‘important day for laws of land’

AN asylum seekers’ tent town was torn down today — with warnings they could be arrested if they try to return.

In “an important day for the laws of the land” gardai locked off the streets around Mount Street in Dublin city centre.

Trucks with mechanical grabbers were then used to scrape the tents from the streets before workers in white boiler suits sprayed disinfectant on the areas where 285 people had been living.

Asylum seekers who had been camping on paths and laneways around the International Protection Office were taken to a site in Crooksling, Co Dublin, and the Citywest accommodation centre.

They were handed a letter translated into languages including French, Arabic and Georgian.

It read: “You do not have permission to stay in this area of Mount Street. You are committing an offence.

“If you refuse to come to the available accommodation or you later return to stay in this area you may be moved on by An Garda Siochana (Police) and you may be arrested and prosecuted.”

Taoiseach Simon Harris said: “Today was an important day. It was an important day in terms of a humanitarian response to the unacceptable situation people in tents found themselves in Mount Street.

“It was also an important day for the laws of our land because this is a country that does have laws and, as Taoiseach, I expect those laws to be enforced.

“So today was about helping people and I think 268 people may have been moved from Mount Street to better suited accommodation with sanitation facilities.

“But it was also a day of saying to people that, even in a humanitarian crisis, there are still laws and you can’t have a scenario where in a very ad-hoc fashion these kind of tented villages are allowed to develop.”

Tanaiste Micheal Martin vowed the situation would not happen again.

He said: “The State has, within its powers, the capacity to make sure we don’t have tents back on Mount Street or in streets. The Government is very clear, we cannot have tents on streets adjacent to neighbourhoods and so forth.”

There are currently around 1,700 asylum seekers in Ireland who have not been offered State accommodation — with more than 50 more arriving each day. The Department of Justice claim the majority are coming here from the UK via the border in the North.

Multi-agency operation

The multi-agency operation to remove those in tent town involved Gardai, the HSE and local authorities and started at 6am today.

Asylum seekers were asked to pack their things and take buses and taxis to their new accommodation which would have food and hygiene facilities.

A small queue was still outside the IPO building at lunchtime as people waited for transport.

One man standing with three others told The Irish Sun: “We were here in the tents. We were told to wait for the bus. We don’t know where the bus is going.”

Railings set up

Hundreds of fences and railings have been set up in Mount Street and the surrounding area — and are expected to remain over the coming days to block places where people could try to camp again.

Local TD and Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik said the conditions people were living in were “inhumane and unsustainable.”

However, an attempt to move them on St Patrick’s Day to Crooksling in Dublin proved unsuccessful.

It used to be a care home but had been equipped with large military-style tents.

Refugees returned

But asylum seekers soon returned to Mount Street, saying there was not enough sanitary facilities and the site was too remote. There were also concerns for their safety.

Today, 285 single male applicants were offered accommodation at IPAS sites at Crookslings and Citywest. Of that total, 186 applicants availed of accommodation at Citywest and a further 99 availed of accommodation at Crooksling.

Crooksling’s facilities have reportedly been improved, with the site now having bunk-beds, toilets, showers, facilities to charge phones, transport to the city centre and 24-hour security.

Sixty asylum seekers have this week moved into the Trudder House facility in Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow, that was previously the subject of protests.

Long-term plan

The Government’s long-term plan is to set up State-owned accommodation centres for up to 14,000 — but these large centres are likely months away.

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak again declared that Britain will not accept asylum seekers sent back from Ireland.

He told the House of Commons he could “confirm that the United Kingdom has no legal obligation” to do so.

The Minister of Justice wants to free up 100 gardai to focus on immigration enforcement, including deportations. The Department of Justice confirmed these will not be policing the border in the North by carrying out any checks.

'Not getting involved'

Asked about Mr Sunak saying the UK was seeking clarification on whether there will be checks at the Irish border, the Taoiseach insisted: “Of course there won’t be.

“I’m not getting involved in British politics. I have no interest as the Taoiseach in being involved in day to day back and forths in the House of Commons.”