Nineteen Nigerian men on hunger strike in Tralee Hostel

by friend Tue Feb 12, 2008 01:47

Lynne, I once befriended some asylum seekers living in a guest house in the west of Ireland. There were couples with or without small children and some individuals living in rooms. The adults received 19.5 euro per week and about 9 euro pw for each child. St. Vincent de Paul and a nun back from the foreign missions tried to help with clothing, books for the children and annual parties for Christmas and St. Patrick's Day.

The landlady was "difficult" and often gave out to the residents. She point blank refused admittance to the kitchen, where an Irish woman did the cooking. After a couple of years she relented and allowed residents to cook a meal for themselves every Saturday, with an Irish lunch on Sunday. Some African residents obtained food items from a shop in Dublin (they were given fares to travel for interviews concerning their applications) but residents from eastern Europe had to cope with the Irish food. They missed things like Borsch, a sort of thick soup-stew made with beetroot and pork on the bone. A couple of times I brought these people to my home after shopping with them for ingredients and they cooked up a wonderful meal. Once or twice I was invited to sit down for a meal in the dining room of the guesthouse and found the food well cooked and ample. But the big thing was the limited possibilities of cooking dishes they were used to in countries of origin.

I would strongly urge the authorities and managers of asylum seeker hostels/guest houses to make provision for self catering facilities, and for the supply of special ingredients for cooking ethnic cuisine. The fat-based protein-rich meaty Irish cuisine is too strong for stomachs that have been brought up on different diets. The psychological release of being able to do your own cooking occasionally is very important.

Good luck with your research.

by Lynne Mon Feb 11, 2008 23:48

Hi All,

I am a final year undergraduate in Maynooth University. I am currently trying to do a sociology dissertation. My topic of research is food in direct provision centres. I am looking at the loss of dietry control and the impact this may have on mental health. Does anyone have any direct link/ contact with these men that are striking?? I am looking for participants for the research project, this would involve an interview..Any information greatly appreciated ..

Lynne

by lucille Wed Oct 04, 2006 00:03

any news on these men . does anybody know if the dept justice improved conditions at the hostel . I hope they are being treated humanely

by gerri Fri Sep 29, 2006 17:25

they aren't actually allowed to work since 1999 so thats why they dont do so.

It must be a pretty aimless existence not doing anything all day, living on 19E per week and with restrictions on who can visit.

However, I dont buy their complaints re food as these hostels are inspected to make sure they are to a certain standard. I would say its a cultural thing, they simply aren't too fond of Irish food, no more than Irish would be fond of Nigerian food as its always saturated in palm oil.

But you are quite right - if they were ACTUALLY in fear of life threatening persecution etc and fleeing genuine bad conditions, it seems likely that they would be happy to be fed, clothed and acomodated by the Irish Taxpayer at a very small risk of repatriation/deportation.

by Fake name Fri Sep 29, 2006 16:51

It is completely untrue to say that it hasn't been reported in the media. It was covered in the Irish Times and below is the article that was published in the Irish Independent. It can easily be googled but those that pretend that it isn't happening have something to hide.

Irish Independent
Asylum seekers enter third day of hunger strike in Tralee

Dozens of asylum seekers in Tralee, Co Kerry, are entering a third day of hunger strike today in protest at their treatment and conditions.
Around 60 residents at Atlas House - a male-only centre for asylum seekers - began the protest on Wednesday to highlight their situation.

They are demanding that officials from the Department of Justice visit them to see the conditions for themselves and have vowed to continue their fast until the request is met.

The men are aged in their 20s to 50s and some have been receiving direct provision in Atlas House for almost two years while waiting for their asylum applications to be processed.

Their concerns include visiting and other restrictions, the lack of recreational facilities, the standard of food they are given and the attitude of management and some staff at the centre.

by Leon Fri Sep 29, 2006 16:24

People are making money from our detention (poor choice of words for a racist ,surely you should have said holiday camp) system. A more just and effective system which reduced profit making opportunitites would be unwelcome.

by Leon Fri Sep 29, 2006 16:21

That cheese sandwich remark is not accurate. The cheese sandwiches were eaten in hospital after the guys had been removed. Of course that was a pretty badly handled 'hunger strike'; if they had drunk water the whole would have dragged out to a point where pressure could have built.

At any rate hunger strikes have little impact until someone dies,at which point they have huge impact.

by hunger strike? Fri Sep 29, 2006 14:59

well the Afghan hunger strike was noted for its inclusion of cheese sandwiches in the menu. And a Nigerian hunger strike in recent years allowed for food intake at night time - kind of reversal of Ramadan?? So maybe Irish standards for what constitutes a 'stailc ocrais' are a little too stringent for our poor asylum seekers. Maybe thats why its not in the main stream media.

On the other hand, it could be because there is a right wing conspiracy to either not report news on such matter or to distort their contents beyond belief, fooling the good people of Ireland into thinking that there should actually be border controls, deportations and an asylum system.

by whipem Fri Sep 29, 2006 13:42

this shite is the reason we need a centralised detention centre

by Duine Thu Sep 28, 2006 20:16

Nach bhfuil siad ar stailc ocrais cionn is go bhfuil bagairt timpeallghearrtha ar a gcuid ban is clann iníon?

by BM Thu Sep 28, 2006 16:46

Therefore it would not be in todays paper.... poor you, those papers can be tedious
what with all the GAA and Gardai orla testimonies from the local courts.

by cailin bawn Thu Sep 28, 2006 16:20

I have read our local paper from cover to cover today, (published this morning) and there is no mention of a hunger strike in the hostel. But thats not to say that there isn't one. But as often happens when asylum seekers are involved, its deemed not to be news worthy, But I'm sure if it involved Irish people in a State funded centre, going on hunger strike, it would make national headlines. As it is many people just think that the asylum seekers should be happy with what they get, even if its not for human consumption and should only be fed to pigs!!

by Brother Mine Thu Sep 28, 2006 15:38

My contact insists that there is an ongoing hunger-strike in one of the hostels in Tralee Centre.
The move of families to Mosney from three years in Kerry is also worrying-
because there was a raid on Mosney in the last few weeks, people
were removed from the centre at 10.30pm at night- i.e taken from their beds.

Two of the minors from Pat's were sent to Cork, to a children's home. Mary Rafferty
(irish Times: http://www.ireland.com) did an expose of State -Run homes and was
not impressed with levels of care given.

It is easy enough to encourage the guys in the hostels to use this site and let us know what is
going on. The person who told me is going to do that but will not return until sunday.

by cailin bawn Thu Sep 28, 2006 14:34

There are three centres in Tralee... Atlas House. Westward Court and Johnston Marina, this last one houses families where the other two keep just men. Atlas house used to keep families only too but about one year ago they moved the families to Mosney, They only gave them about 3 days notice. Many of the residents there at that time had been living in tralee for over 3 years and had been integrating well. But they had to just pick up and start all over again.
As far as I know I think that the men in Atlas house can't even have a drink in their rooms and I know from speaking to the residents in Westward court that the food in Atlas House is terrible most of the time.

by brother Mine Thu Sep 28, 2006 14:15

The person who told me , had contacts with three of the men , he said westward but he met
then through his work. The hunger-strike is for basic rights. I cannot access local media
information. The statement was definitely deprival of family rights , and visitors to rooms.
Inhumane treatment was cited. How many centres are there?
some of the afghans were from there too.

by cailin bawn! Wed Sep 27, 2006 23:07

Look closer
I dont think there are any Hungestrikers in Westward court but they my be continuing a hungerstrike that started a few weeks ago in Atlas House, also in tralee
I live in Tralee and I know some of the residents in westward court, {who are not nigerian} and they told me that they hadn't heard of anyone on hunger strike there, just in Atlas House, in Castle st in Tralee. There has been ongoing problems in that hostel and many complaints over the past number of years about the food and I have heard that its not as people friendly as westward court! Also from what I know of westward court, apart from over crowding there from time to time, I believe that the conditions there are relatively ok and the people who run it are very well liked by the residents.
On another note, it must be very difficult for the men there, most of them are single and have the same needs as everyone of us, What must it be like not to be able to bring a friend over for a night or even a few hours??
I have witnessed the loneliness and the absolute fear that many of these men endure. I know lots of the residents, all different nationalities, each one have a different story, some of them absolutely harrowing and heartbreaking to listen to and they are all waiting for the 'positive or negative' and I have to say that many of the ones I have met deserved a positive and a small minority deserved a negative because they are seeking asylum for purely economic reasons,the same as the Irish in the states a few years ago. But the difference between the asylum seekers that come here for economic reasons and the Irish that went to the States etc, are being taken care of by the state, ok, a bed, food, medical card and a roof over their heads and the huge sum of 19e! But the Irish entered illegally and were to my knowledge never dependent on the American state. But thats not to take from the many many asylum seekers that have been the victims of torture,fgm,and other inhumane and degrading treatments, some at the hands of keepers of the law in their home countries, political oppresion, poverty and just absolute abject misery in countries that, to the outside world, project a different kind of society, both politicaly and socialy. I know some of these people will be deported,and I will never hear from them again. They should been allowed to stay.
I heard just a few days ago about a man from Georgia who is seriously ill with Hep C and is also an insulin dependent diabetic, When he went to sign on in his local garda station, he was picked up without any notice and imprisoned in Limerick prison for 2weeks, to await deportation. His mobile phone was taken from him and the only person that he was able to contact was his solicitor, who eventually secured his release as he was seriously ill. Why did this have to happen? Why does it have to be done this way? These people are not criminals, the vast majority are here for very serious reasons. for many its a case of life or death. For this man its a death sentence if he returns to Georgia because there is no treatment available for hep c, well if you earn the same as an average houshold in Ireland, of course there is. But consider that the average income in Georgia is less than 80e a month. Think about it if you may.
Why isn't there a better system? I do not believe that the new 'Bill' will make much of a difference, the only good that may come out of it may be that there will be transparency in the decisions as to who gets a 'yes' and who gets a 'no'. It wont be about who has enough money when they come into the country to pay for proper legal aid and not the 'mickey mouse' system thats in place now. Yes some representatives are good but more are just in it for the money and don' treally care if the human beings they are representing are properly represented or not.
Apologies for the long spiff but I'm new and really I feel so terribly sad for these people. i was an illegal in the states about 20yrs ago and I have to say that I was treated so well by the 'Yanks'. Now I can put myself in our asylum seekers shoes and really it makes me cry when I see how self centered, selfish and heartless a nation we have become.How quickly money, economic wealth and the social ladder makes us forget how impoverished a country we once were, and it wasn't that long ago.... or have I missed a few years along the way? Remember how we all looked forward to the parcels from America?????????????
I think the majority of people have forgotton and most especially the most intolerable Minister for Justice Micheal McDowell!!

by Frankie Wed Sep 27, 2006 22:54

'If anyone in the area can offer solidarity and bring a camera, it would be useful.
The hostel is located opposite The Abbey Inn Public House, which is
near the re-modelled Square in the town centre.'

Please give us one reason why on earth we would want to give into their ultimatium?