Living in Direct Provision

Institutionalism is alive and well in Ireland and it exists in the form of Direct Provision.

Direct Provision is a system run by the state with the aim of providing basic needs and facilities for asylum seekers that have arrived in Ireland. This system was set up in 1999 as a supposedly temporary solution for asylum seekers waiting on their asylum status however 17 years on and Direct Provision is still in existence with 4,500 people registered at the end of March this year including around 1,000 children.

While asylum seekers are only supposed to be in the system for a number of months, the reality is that many spend years (an average of four) in these centres. During this time, asylum seekers live in a state of enforced idleness; whole families can be living in one room. In some cases, people not permitted to prepare and cook meals for themselves or their family. What this means is that they are forced to eat meals at a set time every day in an overcrowded canteen. They cannot work or attend third level education as they do not have full refugee status. Per week, adults are given a mere €19.10 and children are given €9.60. Every six months, €150 is given to them. Every aspect of the lives of these people is governed by restrictive rules that can make one feel they are stuck in an open prison.

For too long the plight of asylum seekers has gone unnoticed and unpublicised. In what many deem a modern Irish society, it is perhaps hard for people to come to terms with the injustices that asylum seekers face every single day. I have spent the past six weeks as part of DCU’S Sanctuary programme in a project whereby I was paired with a resident of Mosney Direct Provision Centre in Meath. The aim of the project was to alleviate a sense of loneliness that a person might feel if they have just arrived in a foreign country, and also to help improve their English and intercultural skills. I will not disclose my partner's name but they have now found themselves living at Mosney since just before Christmas after having fled from Damascus, Syria. Reading articles and watching vidoes about Direct Provision was nothing compared to listening to someone share their experiences infront me. They are living in a situtation whereby they cannot ask about their application status or plans for their future because they will not get an answer. They are forced to use a segregated ‘shop’ at Mosney rather than just buying food in a regular store.  Many times, some of the items are sold out. “I couldn’t buy milk for three days” my partner told me. Many other times, items are passed their sell by date. You are awarded points for using in the shop rather than normal money. Some people are awarded fewer points than others though it is not made clear to them why. Most groceries are behind counters and residents are forced to point what they want with an assistant then handing it to them. A couple of weeks ago after the project was finished, I went to visit Mosney alone to see my partner. When I arrived, I was given a number. “You’ll find it if you turn left and keep walking,” they told me. It was almost like I was visiting a prisoner. 

The reality is that the entire Direct Provision system is just another business-for-profit; it is a multi-million euro industry. The centres are run by businesses who annually receive about €50 million in State funding. Mosney Holidays, for example, has been paid more than €100 million by the state and because it is an unlimited company, their accounts are hidden from view and not made available to the public.  Direct Provision is a system designed not to meet the needs of asylum seekers but to facilitate profit for capitalistic companies. It is a business that has turned a country’s duty to provide refuge to people fleeing war and oppression into capital for private corporations.

It is very easy to forget the pertinent fact that asylum seekers have come to Ireland to escape persecution in their home country. They come to Ireland not out of choice but by necessity. They should not be blamed for doing so. Unfortunately, the current discourse in Irish society surrounding asylum seekers is that they are attempting to take our welfare and 'live off' the state. But it's not true. They want to integrate and contribute to society but they are simply not given the right to. Asylum seekers are an almost invisible presence in society, diminished to living in centres that are dispersed from urban settings and prevented from taking part in their own progression. We must recognise that this entire system is based on one thing: an attempt at keeping these people out. Preferably out of Ireland but if not, out of public and social life. Out of sight.

As Foucault once said, more is said of a society not by knowing who it includes, but by knowing who it excludes.

Direct Provision has become a permanent feature of the asylum process in Ireland. It’s inhumane, unjust and corrupt, capitalist nature have been ignored by the governments of the past and will probably be ignored by governments of the future.
Institutionalism is alive and well in Ireland and it exists in the form of Direct Provision.