Providing for the tens of thousands of migrants now flocking to Ireland has officially become a crisis. The housing system, already under severe strain with rising homlessness numbers in Ireland, is now bursting at the seams.
The government has finally stated the obvious – there is no room for anyone else to come, and we face an escalating crisis trying to house those who have already arrived. One of the chief problems is that in addition to almost 40,000 Ukrainians, we are expecting 15,000 other migrants here this year who are often coming from countries which are not riven by war.
They are coming because the government announced to the world that if you rocked up to Ireland and claimed you were a refugee, this was pretty much a land of milk and honey, especially in comparison to other European countries.
As we previously reported, Minister Roderic O’Gorman told a UN Committee that up to 15,000 non-Ukrainians were now expected to come to this country seeking “international protection” in 2022 – which would be more than five times the number that came in 2021 when 2,649 applications were made.
Because the internet doesn’t forget, we’re able to bring you the moment when the Minister made sure the maximum number of people knew what a soft touch Ireland is, tweeting his proposals available in Albanian, Arabic, Somali, Urdu and Georgian.
The inexplicable thing is that the Minister now seems surprised at the “dramatic” rise, to use his own words. What did he think was going to happen?
What O’Gorman and his government is doing is grossly unfair to the people who already live here, and also to those who are led to believe that if they come to Ireland there is a surplus of housing and healthcare available for them, in a country which is, in fact, experiencing a protracted and deepening crisis in both those sectors.
Although these 15,000 applicants are generally referred to as asylum seekers, it’s evident that most applications are not from genuine refugees but from economic migrants or from those who wish to move to Ireland for their own reasons.
Remember we are not talking about Ukrainian refugees, who, in fact, now find themselves in competition with other migrants for basic services.
As previously noted: a 2016 report found that 90% of asylum applications are refused, – and, as my colleague Dr Matt Treacy has observed, amongst the highest number of applications continue to come from countries like Georgia, Nigeria and Albania which are not war-torn countries and are not considered “unsafe” for the purposes of determining that international protection should be required.
Roderic O’Gorman’s marvellous plan, which he tweeted about so energetically, promised housing – own door accommodation – within four months. Medical cards would be available, and dentistry, mental health and other services, even though waiting lists have now become preposterous for Irish people for the same.
He also promised that a plethora of taxpayer-funded NGOs would be there to assist with everything from getting a driver’s licence to a bank account to work permits.
Micheal Martin confirmed to reporters yesterday that 70% of accommodation in Citywest is occupied by applicants other than Ukrainians. What a farce. But it’s a farce that is of the government’s own making.
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