ActionAid Ireland renews its urgent appeal to Minister Roderic O’Gorman to exempt lone parents in direct provision from eviction
ActionAid Ireland today renewed its urgent appeal to Minister of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman, to exempt lone parents with international protection from having to vacate their Direct Provision accommodation by the end of this week, saying the moving deadline of July 18th is like a “guillotine hanging over their heads”.
In May, letters were sent to hundreds of women with children living in Direct Provision all over Ireland instructing them to leave their accommodation by July 5th. However, ActionAid Ireland said the move was mired with confusion, with the International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) failing to provide a coherent follow up to the eviction notices.
ActionAid Ireland CEO Karol Balfe said:
“While some parents got follow up letters saying their new moving deadline was July 18th, others received letters stating that their cases are under review and that they would be contacted “in a few weeks”. And some women received phone calls informing them that they will not be transferred at this time due to a lack of available space in emergency accommodation.”
She said mothers with children in Direct Provision supported by ActionAid Ireland under its Paving the Way programme, funded by the St. Stephens Green Trust, have been devastated by the original eviction letter, with most having no chance of getting private accommodation.
“This second deadline of July 18th is hanging over their heads. It is horrendous. These mothers and their children face moving away from their networks and support systems and centres they regard as home into emergency accommodation. This is very disruptive with mothers having to find new schools for their children ahead of September. It simply makes no sense.”
She added:
“It takes a huge amount of work for a person to integrate. To transfer someone with status and to ask them to start again is bad policy. It increases levels of homelessness, undermines integration and adds more barriers to finding private accommodation.”
Ms Balfe said one mother of four has been told she will be moved from Dublin to Mayo at the end of this week. This woman lost her husband two years ago.
She said:
“We are repeating our call to the Minister of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to extend the exemption to people over 65 or with health needs to parents with children. It is simply not acceptable to ask vulnerable women and children to be out of their accommodation. So many of these women have already suffered huge trauma and have been uprooted from their homes and forced to flee to Ireland in the first place due to conflict or crisis.”
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