Asylum seekers at the Knockalisheen Direct Provision Centre say they were “denied Christmas celebrations” by management of the centre.
The residents had spent weeks raising money to buy food, non-alcoholic drinks, and gifts for the party.
“The plan was to dress up and just spend Christmas together. That way, we were going to have food later as well,” an organiser told Fintan Walsh of the Limerick Leader.
Residents had each contributed €5 of their €21.60 a week in order to pay for the festive celebration. When residents tried to access the communal space they found the doors locked.
Asylum seekers at Limerick centre 'denied Christmas celebrations' https://t.co/mLDXIx4CXh
— Limerick Leader / Limerick Live (@Limerick_Leader) December 30, 2017
“Can you imagine having more than 50 children, dressed up in new clothes, waiting to go and celebrate Christmas with everyone and then just be told that it is not going to happen?”
The Knockalisheen Accommodation Centre is owned by Aramark who also run the Avoca chain. Asylum seekers and the Union of Students held protests outside Avoca a few days prior to Christmas to call for an end to Direct Provision.
A UN committee on economic, social and cultural rights found that Ireland’s Direct Provision to be “A severe violation of human rights.” The committee found that: “Asylum seekers continue to live in inadequate and poor communal accommodation for extensive periods of time, are prevented from working, and are required to live on a meagre sum…”
A spokesperson for Movement Of Asylum Seekers In Ireland said that people in Direct Provision are treated like “human waste”. Speaking of Aramark the MASI spokesperson said the company was “one of those who benefit out of the misery of the people living in direct provision.”
It was reported by the Journal that the Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan has requested a report from the management of the Direct Provision centre however MASI say they are not convinced that anything will be done about the what happened to the Knockalisheen residents on Christmas Day.
