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Human rights campaigners calling for an end to institutional living for asylum seekers in April this year Laura Hutton/Photcall Ireland

Seven cases of sexual abuse reported in direct provision hostels in 2012

The average time spent in direct provision hostels has increased, but the numbers in the centres has declined.

INAPPROPRIATE SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR accounted for seven of 210 incidents reported at direct provision hostels in 2012, new figures show.

The figures, revealed in the annual report of the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA), show that of the 121 reports to their Child and Family Services Unit last year, seven were for physical abuse, nine were for emotional abuse and 11 were for neglect.

The report says that parents at the centres are responsible for the welfare of their children, but does not give any details on who the reports were made against.

There were also 47 reports of children being unsupervised and four cases of children being taken into care by the HSE.

The controversial system, which was last weekend called “another Irish example of throwing unwanted individuals down a deep, dark hole“ by TheJournal.ie columnist Aaron McKenna, sees some 60 per cent of asylum seekers, 2,340 people, spend three or more years in . About one third of asylum seekers are children.

Last month the ombudsman Emily O’Reilly said that there was a risk of child abuse in the system, because single parent families are forced to share rooms with strangers.

The report went on to say that the average length of time spent in direct provision centres is now around four years. The RIA accommodated 4,841 asylum seekers in 35 centres at the end of last year. That is a drop of 11 per cent on 2011 numbers, the fourth year in a row that numbers have fallen. In 2008, over 7,000 asylum seekers were in the system.

There were 89 adult incidents reported in 2012, including five cases of domestic violence.

Column: Asylum seekers are our new institutional home victims

Read: Asylum seekers go to High Court over ‘unconstitutional’ direct provision

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37 Comments
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    Mute Diarmuid Brennan
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    Aug 6th 2013, 10:57 AM

    Irish and EU immigration/asylum laws are a joke!!

    we should make it very simple! If someone is seeking asylum then it needs to be genuine (IE they are taking the country for a ride on our benefits) this is quiet common.

    No foreigner should automatically get an irish passport they should get a visa they need to renue every year for 7 years.

    Deportation should be automatic if you commit a crime and or defraud the state. IE a nigerian woman poured boiling oil on a policeman who was trying to do his job and the romanian gangs who are pick pocketing tourists on dublin streets, there were over 600 arrested and should be automatically deported back to romania. If you want to live Ireland then you much be able to speak english or irish and new visa holders are ineligable for benefits for the first few years meaning that you want to live in ireland you must be able to work, pay tax and support your family. If children are born in ireland they become irish citizens as soon as the parents become irish citizens. There are too many loop holes in our law today.

    I also believe that any citizen of the EU that commits a crime are deported as well. the same way if an irish citizen breaks the law in a foreign country they should be deported back to ireland.

    We should have retina scanners and finger print scanners for all foreigners coming into ireland. also track irish people through irish passports leaving and reentering the country. IE someone on the dole travelling back and forth from Poland or Spain few times a year. they are taking the country for a ride and it needs to stop.

    I think that every hard working irish person to pays tax and does not get any benefits or automatic medical card would agree to this is not unreasonable. the people who work hard and are keeping the country alive in these tough times. i also believe the same should of been through the boom. cause we have less money now doesn’t mean aything.

    176
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    Mute Marlon Major
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    Aug 6th 2013, 12:17 PM

    @Diarmuid are suggesting that the thousands of Irish who are living illegally in the United States should be deported without question? They arrived to the US without claiming asylum.. Therefore, they have no right to American citizenship, nor can they ever apply for American citizenship or enter the US again because they a federal criminals felons.

    Is this what I understand you to be promoting?

    23
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    Mute Diarmuid Brennan
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    Aug 6th 2013, 12:24 PM

    Yes, thats exactly what i am saying. if you enter a country and legally abide by its laws then you deserve to stay, work and intergrate into that country.

    the problem with the Irish in the US is that they are working but are not paying taxes so that when they apply to become a US citizen, they sudenly find out that they owe $100,000 is unpaid taxes to the goverment. If you break the law you deserve to be deported!! as most illegial irish emmigrants are!

    Marlon a question for you!

    If you commit crimes, don’t work, don’t pay taxes and don’t contribute to society do you deserve to stay in that country piggy backing off the taxes of the hard working citizens?

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    Mute Ryan Murphy
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    Aug 6th 2013, 12:34 PM

    Ah Marlon is here to tell us all to throw more money at minorities and welfare tourists again.

    48
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    Mute Lauren Halligan
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    Aug 6th 2013, 12:36 PM

    Marlon, I’d move to the US tomorrow if I could work there legally. But I can’t, so I won’t. Same should go for everyone.

    53
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    Mute Marlon Major
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    Aug 6th 2013, 1:33 PM

    Ryan…. Don’t be ridiculous….. If the Asylum Seekers made it to our shores, then we have a need to guarantee their safety and give them a basic level of food and accommodations.

    Furthermore, I think it’s a bit rich for you to imply that we should ignore those who are asking for help. I’m sure in your life you have gotten help, solicited and un-solicited.

    These folks are asking us for help. As country, we have the right to decline their requests.

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    Mute Marlon Major
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    Aug 6th 2013, 1:40 PM

    @Diarmuid…. We agree then…. Asylum Seekers of bad character or criminals should not be permitted to stay. However, this cannot be ascertained without investigation. Furthermore, I believe all illegal Irish should be returned to Ireland from the US.

    They are illegal and fingered all the people who have or going through the proper channels to receive US citizenship.

    For your question… Any person not a citizen of this country and who breaks laws of a certain calibre should be deported if found guilty.

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    Mute John F
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    Aug 6th 2013, 1:42 PM

    We need to have off island processing like they do in Australia, this would prevent the asylum system from been hijacked by economic migrants and hopefully make it easier for genuine refugees to get the asylum they deserve!

    31
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    Mute Marlon Major
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    Aug 6th 2013, 1:45 PM

    @Lauren… I agree with you. I made a choice to relocate to Ireland…. I had to jump through the hoops to get my Irish citizenship. It was frustrating and annoying… But I did it….

    No one should ever be the jumping of queues!

    14
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    Mute Diarmuid Brennan
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    Aug 6th 2013, 1:55 PM

    Marlon in you previous comment you’ve stated that the case of the poor irish in America! These Irish went to America illegially and are trying to seek a life they feel is better than life in Ireland. The same can be said for some AS. They’ve come to Ireland because they’ve heard that its easy to claim benefits and never have to work again. They can stay in a flat or house paid for by the state and send some of the money back to their families in their country of origin!

    THIS is the case of a number of AS. I do take your point and its a fair point. I’ve spoken to a man who was caught up in the Kosovo war who came here as a refugee/AS and has carved a good life for himself in Ireland, his kids are in school playing hurling and football. he works hard at landscaping and provides for his family.

    The irish constitution has a duty of care to Irish citizens only! But i agree we should take some of the refugees/AS that are fleeing terrible wars.

    We need to determin if an AS is a refugee or a migrant. I would still say if those AS we take in break the laws in Ireland they too should be deported as they haven’t saw if fit to abide by Irish laws even after we have taken them in.

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    Mute mollydot
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    Aug 6th 2013, 2:29 PM

    Who automatically gets a passport?

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    Mute Marlon Major
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    Aug 6th 2013, 2:58 PM

    Diarmuid…. I think we agree. AS people found to braking the law and convicted should be returned to point of orgin. This goes for the illegal Irish in America. They should be returned to Ireland without the possiblity of ever returning to the US.

    My attitude may be cold… Regardless, they had a choice of going through the proper channels or finger the system, those who wait patiently and complete the process. This is unfair to these people.

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    Mute Marlon Major
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    Aug 6th 2013, 3:00 PM

    @Mollydot… Don’t be absurd…. No one gets an automatic passport unless there is political intervention. And this… I’m sure doesn’t happen very often.

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    Mute mollydot
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    Aug 6th 2013, 6:11 PM

    It’s Diarmuid who’s being absurd: “No foreigner should automatically get an irish passport” It doesn’t happen.

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    Mute Anne Gardener
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    Aug 6th 2013, 9:25 AM

    This slant of this article seems to be ‘don’t keep people in direct provision hostels’, however as I presume most of the sexual and physical abuse came from the asylum seekers themselves I don’t think after finding out the levels of abuse that occur within the hostels is going to make people decide ‘what worthy individuals – yes lets get them out here living amongst us’

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    Mute Akintola Brady
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    Aug 6th 2013, 11:38 AM

    Can we not have another abuse gravy train? I mean the vulture legal classes need to have something to feed off of.

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    Mute David Conroy
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    Aug 6th 2013, 10:19 AM

    If I were desperate enough to bypass most other countries in Europe to seek asylum in Ireland, I would be desperate enough to think of a reason not to stay in a Hostel. Process should be simpler, prove where you came from or out you go and back to the first country you landed in !

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    Mute Chris Mcdonnell
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    Aug 6th 2013, 10:35 AM

    So we have a bunch of anti social and sexual deviants in these places.
    Lucky enough we found out.
    I assume these people have been refused asylum on grounds of their misbehaviour and shipped home?

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    Mute Ollie Owens
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    Aug 6th 2013, 9:50 AM

    I know a guy who owns one of these places – a good FF member – he cannot believe his luck. Has made a small fortune out of it. Who you know etc ……….That aside it is a disgrace that these people have to wait 4 + years for a decision – would it be stay or go. Who is responsible for over seeing this shambles – how much does each one cost the tax payer per week?

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    Mute Larry T Bird
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    Aug 6th 2013, 10:15 AM

    How do you propose we speed it up ?

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    Mute Ollie Owens
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    Aug 6th 2013, 11:21 AM

    Simple – it is costing the state 100′s of euro per week to keep people here over the long run. Stop thinking short term and think more long term.
    Organise more courts / staff to deal with this. I don’t know the exact figures but say one family (two adults and 2 children) cost €800 per week to keep in one of these places one year is equal to 41600. Four years = €166,400. Surely long term it is better to put more staff into this area. Also remove red tape – only the solicitors are getting rich on this. Have someone take responsibility……………

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    Mute Muriel Gowing
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    Aug 6th 2013, 9:28 AM

    I’m sorry it happened but vulnerable Irish people were subjected to similar treatment in various institutions. Thankfully a number of these people are better able to stand up for their rights than some Irish were in the past.

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    Mute brendan harlowe
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    Aug 6th 2013, 10:09 AM

    As are these people , and everyone is telling them to put up or shut up!

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    Mute Alex McDwyer
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    Aug 6th 2013, 10:37 AM

    Personally I’d like to see a breakdown of the figures. How long are initial applications taking and how long are appeals taking.

    Are the people in direct provision the longest appealing every decision that’s being made?

    While I in no way condone abuse in any manner shape or form, I do find it odd that all the groups looking for government funding are coming out of the wood work prior to the budget.

    61
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    Mute Ned Daly
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    Aug 6th 2013, 9:18 AM

    The tribunals of the future, right before our eyes.

    59
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    Mute Larry T Bird
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    Aug 6th 2013, 9:27 AM

    These people are there voluntarily, thats the difference.

    They are free to leave anytime they like and should if they are not happy.

    It takes time to process thousands of applications from people who turn up with no identification and nothing but a story to support their application.

    We should apologise to no one for protecting our borders.

    247
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    Mute Ispíní Ó Cathaláin
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    Aug 6th 2013, 10:17 AM

    We can protect our borders sure, but having children in single parent families (where the single parent could be a vulnerable woman) sharing a sleeping space with a stranger is not acceptable.

    As for leaving voluntarily – if you’re talking about going back to their country of origin, if they’re a genuine case then it wouldn’t be safe to do so and if they’re not a genuine case they’re unlikely to have the money for the flight if they’re not allowed work, no? So they have to stay here until the Department either grants their application or puts them on a deportation flight.

    Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think we should open our doors to just anyone, but we should be able to say yes or no a lot quicker than we’re doing at present and allow applicants a bit more dignity while we’re at it. Even if 90% are chancers, that leaves 10% that are genuine and are probably fleeing conditions that none of us would want to imagine.

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    Mute Paul Walsh
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    Aug 6th 2013, 10:33 AM

    It’s baffling that children of one-parent families have to share intimate quarters with a stranger, but I can assure you that if I were the stranger I wouldn’t touch the parent or the child no matter how long I had to endure the situation so there must be devients in there.

    The bogus asylum seekers you say cannot afford to go home but I don’t think the government charge for deportation so they could go home for free if they don’t like the conditions.

    56
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    Mute Ispíní Ó Cathaláin
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    Aug 6th 2013, 10:41 AM

    Paul, like you say, there must be deviants there (as there are in any population) so it’s astonishing these places are adding to the risk by putting adults they know nothing about in bedrooms with other people’s kids.

    As for the deportation, you’re right, government doesn’t charge but the asylum seeker will still be waiting months/years for the government to organise a deportation flight.

    19
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    Mute Breandán O Conchúir
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    Aug 6th 2013, 11:05 AM

    larry t we are not protecting our boarders most people in direct provision have been there sense the Celtic tiger days. there is nothing good about direct provision

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    Mute BooHoo2U
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    Aug 6th 2013, 1:35 PM

    Sexual abuse of kids will not stop just because they are put into council/private housing. The vast majority of sexual abuse of children is committed by family members or someone personally known to the victim.

    This article is just pushing the agenda to scrap direct provision. As others have said, those in direct provision came to Ireland by choice, if they don’t like it here they can leave.

    26
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    Mute Larry T Bird
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    Aug 6th 2013, 2:12 PM

    –>Ispíní
    If we take a country like Nigeria – check out the size of it on a map and tell me that a person can find *nowhere* to live without being ‘persecuted’. Or that they couldn’t cross the border into one of the many neighbouring countries with a land border to escape this ‘persecution’.

    –>Breandán
    There are a number of good things about DP.
    -It discourages further asylum seekers from applying as communication systems are very well developed and potential applicants will know the rigour of the system in advance.
    -It ringfences people in acceptable conditions (try Australia or Italy as a comparison) while their stories are being verified.

    19
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    Mute Ispíní Ó Cathaláin
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    Aug 6th 2013, 2:43 PM

    @Larry, that’s simply not true and it depends on the reason for which they’re being persecuted. For example, if the asylum seeker was gay, there’d be virtually nowhere on the entire African continent where they could live without the threat of violence, imprisonment or murder. Or let’s say it was a woman fleeing sexual violence – a Swiss woman was sentenced to jail for reporting a rape in Dubai. She was only freed because she was Western. What if she’d been a local? What neighbouring country would have treated her differently? Those ate just hypothetical examples and I’m not saying that all asylum seekers should come here, they should apply for asylum in the first EU country the land in, and I’m sure there are plenty of bogus cases. However to say the genuine ones shouldn’t even leave their country is insensitive to the very real suffering some people face.

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    Mute Matt Conroy
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    Aug 6th 2013, 11:38 AM

    We need to introduce a green card system similar to the US for all non EU nationals and situations like this one could be avoided. Lets face it most of these people will never get work here and will continue to bleed the state of benefits. That’s not racist it is fact. Refugee status is meant to be temporary these people should be given the option to become tax playing members of society or should be deported. We have enough Irish benefit dependants without inviting more from outside

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    Mute Dave Byrne
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    Aug 6th 2013, 1:32 PM

    What use to happen here was someone would arrive just say from Nigeria they would apply for asylum and more than likely get refused, They would then go on to appeal the findings while in the mean time get pregnant and once the child was born here they got automatic rights to stay under the Irish Born child status.
    Thankfully that loop hole was closed off as for the process we use to distinguish between real & bogus asylum seekers, It is fare and done in a speedy manor what holds up the process is the constant aooeal after appeal.
    Just say there is family of 4 they can each make an appeal which slows down the process, The family should be classed as a single unit for the process and it should be one application for asylum for a family and one appeal (not numerous ones).
    I wonder could the RIA or any other do gooder organisations give a break down on how many times these aslyum seekers have appealed there case.
    And if anyone can shed some light on how a person can board an airline without a passport, I would like to know as anytime I went travelling through out the world I had to produce my passport even for internal flights.

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    Mute Ryan Murphy
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    Aug 6th 2013, 12:32 PM

    Ooh is this a new quango? How exciting! Which journie do these ones know?

    Dear RIA, or whatever, get the bowl out of my face, and p1ss off, thanks.

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    Mute Marlon Major
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    Aug 6th 2013, 10:17 AM

    It is a known fact that when you stack people on top of each other…. Anti-Social behaviour will occur. Furthermore, Asylum Seekers (AS) are because they are trying to escape their country for one reason or another. The application process includes queries about their request for being asylum approval and their character. As a result, all types of people are corralled together regardless of their character, past-behaviours or criminal past… This cannot be avoided….

    Therefore, a system is required to permit complaints to be lodged and protection guaranteed of AS. There is no way around it…. The last thing we need for Ireland, is the reporting of abuse, sexual or otherwise, of AS in international newspapers.

    19
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