Direct provision centre in Co Limerick ‘like Guantanamo Bay’ - report
A report has called for the immediate closure of a direct provision centre in Co Limerick after it found there were fears for the health and wellbeing of residents.
The report, conducted by Doras Luimní, of which President Michael D Higgins is a patron, found the Mount Trenchard centre in Foynes was isolated, with some residents claiming there were issues over personal safety with as many as eight men sleeping in a single room and one resident describing it as “Guantanamo Bay”.
Residents said they had dirty nappies thrown at them as they walked along the road, and another was quoted as saying that gardaí had advised they would only attend at the centre if “they were killing each other”.
Doras Luimní spoke with 15 residents from the Middle East and Africa who the organisation said “volunteered this information despite the genuine fear of the perceived consequences of speaking out against the system”.
More than 40% had been in the centre for more than two years.
The information was gathered between September 2018 and last April and also includes input from people who provide support services, although there was no response from community-level practitioners.
The report said: “Participants reported that living in an unwelcoming, bleak, and confined space in Mount Trenchard for extensive periods of time results in disinterest and apathy, eventually leading to depression.”
One resident was quoted as saying “after three months you are begging to be let out”, while another referred to “people there who have schizophrenia and they are standing in front of mirrors talking for eight, nine hours straight, you can hear them at night time”.
“There is still people there who are mentally sick, there are still people there who cut themselves,” said one resident.
You know there are still people there who would take drugs and sleep for two, three days straight, take alcohol for two, three days, just to escape their reality.
The report said there had been longstanding issues with Mount Trenchard, which is privately managed by Baycaster Ltd and which has often been operating at maximum capacity with 85 residents. Issues include its distance from urban areas and services, poor public transport provision, and inadequate conditions in the centre itself.
On safety concerns, the report said: “Residents spoke about a lack of response from staff to reports of serious verbal and physical aggression between residents or when self-harm occurs. They reported dangerous instances where staff locked themselves in the office to avoid dealing with issues and did not notify gardaí.”
All referred to an incident where a resident slashed his hand “and almost died” as an instance where there was a poor and delayed response. It was also claimed a man who became ill had to walk back to Foynes, some 40km, from University Hospital Limerick.
The centre is 5km to Foynes village and according to one resident: “It’s still dangerous, and last Monday actually somebody threw coffee at me. My friend actually, three weeks ago, somebody threw a diaper at him from the car. Imagine somebody had a diaper in the car, they planned it.”
The report said some of the recommendations of the McMahon Report on the direct provision system had been implemented, and there was reference to alongside a perception that an involuntary transfer to the centre was seen as a sort of punishment.
The report makes a range of recommendations to resolve short-term issues and said if these changes were not introduced urgently, “the contract for accommodation services in Mount Trenchard should be terminated”.
It said: “While it is recommended that these short-term measures are urgently implemented, these concerns can only fully be addressed if alternative accommodation is provided for residents.”
