Gardaí investigate alleged slashing of asylum seekers' tents in Herbert Park

Irish Times

18 hours ago

Gardaí
are investigating an incident in which the tents of
homeless
asylum seekers
were allegedly slashed in a south
Dublin
park.
The alleged incident occurred on Sunday morning in
Herbert Park
in Dublin 4 where three Somali men had been sleeping at the far edge of the park, near the Dodder river.
They said a man had been harassing them on Saturday evening and came back at about 7.30am on Sunday as they were sleeping.
'He shouted and attack[ed] the tent. He cut the tents and kept saying he will burn it and come back with friends and dogs and attack us,' one of the men told The Irish Times.
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One of the asylum seekers (or applicants for international protection) filmed the man as he approached, before he allegedly cut the tents. Wearing a blue T-shirt and black knee-length shorts, he is seen throwing his bicycle to the ground and shouting in the one-minute-12-second video.
'You are not allowed here. This is a park for children. Out. Out now. Tonight when you sleep, dogs are coming. You come here tonight and fire. I'll f**king burn yous. Get out here. I don't care,' he can be heard saying.
'Get the f**k out now. I'll be back in 15 minutes and I am going to f**king burn them. I am going to ring fellas now and they are coming with dogs, dogs. You have 15 minutes to get the f**k out of here.'
He asks if he is being filmed. The camera is no longer focused on him as he continues to shout. Sounds can be heard of him allegedly throwing and cutting the tents.
Tents in Herbert Park believed to have been used by migrants. Photograph: Barry Cronin
The men also show a video of the same man, filmed as they sat on a nearby bench on Saturday evening, snapping the tents' rods. He shouts over to them: 'You won't be in here.'
Asked how they were, the youngest, who is 24, said: 'It is terrifying.'
As the men spoke at about 10am on Sunday, the man they said had earlier slashed the tents returned on a bicycle identical to that in the video, and began speaking to a volunteer who was packing up the men's sleeping bags.
'There are children here, women here. You are not thinking about that when you are leaving them here. You brought them into the country. You look after them,' he said to the volunteer.
Asked by The Irish Times what his concern was with the men camping in the park, he said: 'They were going to the toilet here this morning. There were women passing. It's terrible. I know there's no toilets for them but there's a centre up the road. Put them in the centre.'
It is not clear what centre he was referring to.
The volunteer, who asked not be named because it was 'too dangerous' for volunteers to be identified, called gardaí. Two arrived in a squad car and took the men's names and copies of videos they had taken.
The gardaí said they would contact the International Protection Accommodation Service and ask that the men be accommodated urgently.
The incident comes as those working with unaccommodated asylum seekers have warned of a 'tangible increase in risk', with tents at small encampments targeted.
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Nick Henderson, chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council, said protection applicants' tents had been similarly damaged on Friday morning.
'We are deeply concerned about the situation of people seeking protection who are sleeping rough,' he said.
'In recent weeks, there has been a tangible increase in risk. Tents have been slashed, as happened today, camping spaces fenced off and social-media posts have circulated showing tents being filmed, accompanied by inflammatory commentary and threatening symbols such as flames.
'People in this situation have been followed by people who have posted footage online with ... far-right and racist statements.'
He said male asylum seekers were not being provided with accommodation on arrival but were accommodated after a few days, sometimes just 24 hours after arrival, if they slept rough.
'In effect, the system requires people to sleep rough in order to demonstrate eligibility for accommodation, exposing them to serious harm. This policy has been found to be unlawful by the High Court in two different cases,' said Mr Henderson.
This was placing 'enormous pressure on volunteers' he said, many of whom had been supporting people 'almost continuously' for over two years.
'We again call on the Government ... to fulfil its legal obligations and accommodate people seeking protection.'
The volunteer on Sunday said: 'No one wants to wake up in the morning and bring their family to the park and see people camping there. Nobody wants that. And we don't need to have that, but this seems to be deliberate policy of making people sleep rough.
'I think it's a policy of dissuasion so word goes back [to others thinking of seeking asylum in Ireland] that 'you are not really welcome here'. The risk is so high placing them on the streets.'
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Gardaí and the Department of Justice have been contacted for comment.
The Somali men said they had been in Ireland between five and 10 days. Two were aged 30 and one 24. The youngest said they had arrived in Ireland through Dublin Airport.
'At the airport they took our fingerprints, took photos and gave us this blue card [International Protection Office temporary residence certificate]. They told us to go and sort ourselves.'
Asked if they were offered accommodation or told when they could get shelter, he said: 'No. They just gave us some locations where we can find food and charging our phones.
'We sleep here and elsewhere in tents. Before yesterday we didn't have problem[s] with other people.'