Ukraine forum calls on Taoiseach to step in on refugee accommodation crisis

The Taoiseach has been called on to intervene in the accommodation crisis for Ukrainian refugees with no beds available and many expected to have to sleep in airports. 

The Ukraine Civil Society Forum (UCSF) that includes 65 civil society organisations involved in the emergency response and settlement of Ukrainian refugees to Ireland, has reiterated its call for a fresh approach and a national lead to be put in place immediately to manage and oversee the accommodation, settlement, and integration of refugees.

This follows the announcement that the Citywest hotel, now accommodating 1,050 refugees, has no place for new arrivals to sleep on Thursday night.

Amid worsening overcrowding at the transit centre at the Citywest hotel complex in Dublin, new arrivals on Wednesday who did not have alternative accommodation already arranged were asked to remain at Dublin Airport overnight and into Thursday.

Ireland has taken in around 40,000 refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine – the majority of them women and children.

Asylum seekers from other countries also continue to seek sanctuary in Ireland through the International Protection Service.

The forum said that, while the national response to the initial refugee emergency was very positive, it was clear for some time that the reliance on hotels is unsustainable.

More medium term solutions need to be activated with urgency, the forum said. They say there is an onus now on the Taoiseach to galvanise other arms of the State to step in and bring a fresh approach, they add. 

The National Co-ordinator for the Ukraine Civil Society Forum, Emma Lane-Spollen, said: “The crisis in Citywest will happen again if we don’t do something new. We need the big decisions to be made now. A new agency, a national lead and a thought through plan. We have to move from crisis mode to get on top of the situation.”

“We must remember that we are talking about women, children and the elderly, all already traumatised, we need to make them safe. The war in Ukraine is not ending, and Ireland will continue to have to meet its international obligations to all refugees,” Ms Lane-Spollen said.

The Forum will continue to work with Government, across civil society and with local community groups to identify the best possible solution and maximise all possible accommodation options.