Asylum seekers told to leave Mount Street and taken to new accommodation – The Irish Times

On Wednesday morning, on a guarded street between Mount Street and Verschoyle Place in Dublin city centre, a police officer approached a small tent and announced his presence to the occupant: “Garda, police.”

The Garda told the man inside that he would have to recover and collect his belongings – he would be moved to new accommodation.

The same was true for each of the approximately 200 asylum seekers living in the Mount Street camp. At around 7am, dozens of uniformed gardaí began leading the men out of their tents and directing them onto stopped buses. Once on board, they would be transferred to tents in Crooksling, south Dublin or Citywest.

IPAS staff handed some A4 sheets in several languages, informing them that they did not have permission to remain in the Mount Street area.

“If you refuse to come to available accommodation or return later to stay in this area, you may be removed by An Garda Síochána (police) and you may be arrested and prosecuted,” the sheet reads.

Not everyone wanted to leave Mount Street. Mohammed Said said gardaí woke him up early in the morning and told him he would be moved to new accommodation.

Said, who said he was from Egypt and appeared to be in his 40s, said he had remained close to the IPO since arriving in Ireland from the UK a fortnight ago.

He said he didn’t want to get on the bus. He was upset at how Gardaí had treated him since he arrived in Ireland: “These people don’t respect me, (they treat me) like an animal.”

“They tell me they are taking me to court, why, I don’t know. “I’m not doing anything bad for anyone.”

He was leaving the Mount Street area on foot, holding his tent and a blue plastic bag with a duvet.

Another asylum seeker, a man from Morocco, said he was woken up on Wednesday and told everyone was being moved to “another place.” He had arrived in Ireland six months ago, he said.

He said he did not want to go to alternative accommodation because he would be separated from his partner. The couple is currently homeless, he said through tears as he walked towards the Grand Canal with two shopping bags full of belongings.

The Mount Street area was completely surrounded by a Garda cordon on Wednesday morning, with only those who could prove they worked or lived on the street allowed through. A sizable media presence, including journalists from British media, gathered on the Holles Street side of the street, craning their necks to get a better view of what was happening. The public stopped on their way to work and videotaped from afar.

As soon as the street was evacuated, after 8 in the morning, heavy machinery (a hydraulic grabber) picked up the tents to dispose of them. The camp was dismantled before lunch.

On Wednesday morning in Crooksling, Dia Mohammed said he was happy to be moved to new accommodation.

Standing at the bus stop outside St Brigid’s Home, Mohammed (25), from Jenin, West Bank, said he arrived in Ireland seven days ago. He said he spent that time at the IPO in “difficult” conditions.

He said he was happy to be in Ireland, where there were “very nice, very good” people.

It took him four months to get from Palestine to Ireland, via Egypt, Türkiye and France, he said.

A short distance from the entrance to the Crooksling site, two men in their 30s, from Morocco and Egypt, said they had arrived at St Brigid’s Home from the IPO on one of three buses on Wednesday morning.

Some people said they were happy to leave the IPO, but not all, as Crooksling is far from the city centre.

The men said they had arrived in Ireland some time ago from the UK, traveling to Dublin from Belfast.