Inside Crooksling: ‘Sleep is the only escape’ from the ‘dirty, unsafe’ asylum seeker campsite

Tented accommodation for asylum seekers at Crooksling in south Dublin is “dirty”, “humiliating” and often feels “unsafe”, residents at the site and volunteers have said.

Land surrounding the former St Brigid’s nursing home in Crooksling is being used by the Department of Integration to house hundreds of men who have recently arrived seeking asylum. Despite Government assurances that tents have electricity, heating and that the site is regularly cleaned, videos taken by residents and seen by The Irish Times show dirty bathrooms and dark, overcrowded and damp tents.

One source working directly with the men described the campsite as “abysmal” and said it was reminiscent of the “Calais Jungle” refugee camp in northern France. An NGO spokesperson, who has visited the site, said there was very little light at night and that some men left “because they didn’t feel safe”. A local volunteer said the site was “dystopian” and that men transferred to Citywest said it felt like a “five-star hotel” in comparison.

The Crooksling tents have capacity for 540 people but department officials would not confirm how many men are on the site at present. Each tent houses between 10 and 12 men who drape duvets and blankets over the bunks to try to bring some semblance of privacy to their sleeping quarters. Toilets and showers are available in trailers; however, residents and volunteers reported that showers are regularly broken. They also reported that recently installed washing machines do not work.

One male resident, who spoke to The Irish Times off site and on condition of anonymity, said there was never hot water available and “sometimes no water at all”.

“Until two months ago they brought us bottled water but now there is just one tap for drinking water,” he said.

He said there was “absolutely no” electricity in the tents and that water leaks inside the tarpaulin whenever it rains heavily. The men must queue outside for meals, regardless of the weather, he said. They are served meals of meat and rice with no fruit or vegetables, said the man, who spends most of his weekly €38.80 expenses allowance on cheese and tinned foods.

Men must queue to charge their phones in a designated room and fights often break out on the site, he added. “We queue for the shower, we queue for the toilet, we queue to charge our phones, we queue for everything, every day,” he said.

A former Crooksling resident, who was recently transferred to indoor accommodation in the southwest of the country, said his current housing is “a different world entirely” to the tents. “The management kept saying they were renovating the houses and we’d be moving in to them in two weeks,” he told The Irish Times over the phone. “They also said we’d get electricity in the tents but there’s no electricity or heaters in those tents.

“In Crooksling the bathrooms are so bad, they aren’t cleaned properly. You can go two to threedays without clean water and if there is water, it’s not hot. Going to sleep at night is the only escape from it all.”

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Asked to respond to these claims, a spokesman for the Department of Integration said residents were provided with “robust, weatherproof tents” which have “both electricity and portable heaters”. The Crooksling accommodation provider also confirmed “all facilities are functional and secure” following last week’s heavy rain.

“There is fresh drinking water provided to all residents, and the toilets, shower and laundry facilities on site are cleaned every 30 minutes via a rota system. Residents also have access to indoor areas where food is provided; facilities to charge phones and personal devices; and 24-hour on-site security.”

Residents and volunteers also expressed serious concerns that the local Dublin Bus regularly fails to stop outside the camp. The Irish Times witnessed more than 40 men walking single file down the N81, which has an 80km/h speed limit, after the bus reportedly did not stop. Most men were walking the hour-long journey to Jobstown, on the outskirts of Tallaght, to collect their daily expenses allowance.

A Dublin Bus spokeswoman acknowledged it was experiencing “increased customer demand on Route 65″, which had “resulted in some services not stopping at certain points along the low-frequency route when at maximum capacity”. However, Dublin Bus has received “no customer complaints about buses with capacity not stopping on this route” and urged concerned customers to make a detailed online complaint so a full investigation could be carried out.

The department spokesman said Crooksling residents had access to “a regular Dublin bus service to the city centre” and were “also supported by NGOs and the accommodation provider with additional transport needs on request”.

There is “an acute shortfall of available accommodation” in Ireland due to the “unprecedented numbers” of people seeking accommodation, he said. “While priority remains on providing shelter in as far as possible and the use of tents is required, the department is endeavouring to ensure that the use of the tents is kept as short-term as possible.”

The Government is committed to moving the men at Crooksling indoors as soon as possible, he added.