Human rights groups fear anti-refugee violence will escalate
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Migrant rights groups have raised concerns that attacks on accommodation for international protection applicants will continue to escalate until someone is harmed “or worse” while urging all politicians to act "responsibly".
It comes as the Ross Lake House Hotel in Rosscahill, Co Galway, which was due to house international protection applicants became the latest site to be targeted in a suspected arson attack.
Doras chief executive John Lannon said it is “really worrying” that yet another accommodation site for international protection applicants has been targeted.
He said migrant rights groups have been warning about escalating violence and targeted attacks “for quite a while” yet it appears to have fallen on deaf ears.
“Rather than getting ahead of that, and rather than getting a proper level of communication around asylum seekers' rights and entitlements and our obligations to provide for them, the Government has let this happen,” he said.
Mr Lannon added that the absence of a medium- to long-term plan for accommodating those seeking asylum here, in addition to a lack of investment in community services, has contributed to escalating violence across the country.
He said politicians across the board should be condemning the fearmongering that led to the act itself, saying that it is time for politicians to act “responsibly”. Instead, he said, some politicians are “essentially stoking the opposition to asylum seekers”.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Galway Fianna Fáil councillor Noel Thomas, who attended the local protests before the blaze, said Ireland should no longer be accepting international protection applicants, adding the “inn is full”.
“They need to be challenging and not encouraging the beliefs and attitudes underlying the vitriol and criminality that is now happening,” Mr Lannon said before adding that gardaí must also “get ahead” of further attacks.
“There are far-right activists who are planning and orchestrating violence around the country and they're gaining strength. That needs to be tackled,” he said.
Fiona Hurley, chief executive of Nasc, a charity that campaigns for the rights of migrant and refugee communities here, said it is a “frightening time” for those seeking asylum in Ireland and for people of ethnic minorities who may fear being targeted in public.
“This arson attack is certainly not isolated—these acts of intimidation have become more common over the last few years. We're concerned that the violence will continue to escalate and someone will be harmed or worse,” she said.
Ms Hurley said it is imperative that those responsible for these attacks face the appropriate legal consequences while politicians also have a role to play.
“We need additional action to be taken by public representatives and authorities to deter anti-immigrant violence and racism.
“This includes publicly condemning any such intimidation, but also, crucially, we need to see more direct support for communities, both local and migrant, in responding constructively to division and violence in their community,” she said.