THE Donegal Homeless & Housing Coalition have welcomed the new arrivals to the Direct Provision.
The group have called on the entire Letterkenny community to make them feel welcomed and accepted into the town.
The asylum seekers were originally to have already moved in to the centre but has postponed due to Covid lockdown restrictions, and the new arrivals will be here next month.
DHHC representative Finn O’Donnell said: “We want to ensure that the people of the direct provision centre are treated with respect and dignity just like any other member of society. Giving them a warm welcome and a feeling of security can only be a positive thing for us all”.
The introduction of the Direct Provision Centre sparked some anger with a minority of locals when a large sign was constructed at the Market Square claiming the current government was housing foreign nationals with Direct Provision centre instead before Irish nationals who are still struggling to find accommodation.
Mr O’Donnell said: “I’ve seen and heard ignorant and quite frankly disgusting comments about human beings fleeing traumatising situations and finding shelter here in our community. I think there is simply a lack of knowledge in this case as well as blatant racism.
“The housing and homeless crisis is a major issue in Donegal and it has been here long before any refugees and asylum seeker arrived here. People can no longer beat the drum of the housing crisis with the refugee stick. It simply doesn’t stand up to an ounce of credibility.”
The housing group have linked in with the Donegal Refugee Support Group in assisting them in any housing needs and queries they need.
Representative, Allie Gallagher said: ‘’We are helping locals with their housing needs, landlord disputes and homelessness as we always have.
“We are also in a position to help out anyway we can the the refugee group because we can and we will. it’s that simple. We hear so much fake news about foreign families getting these big houses for free while locals get nothing.
“I can assure everyone reading this that from our experience on the ground, Both foreigner and local are treated with the same disadvantage and the same disregard as anyone else. The problem is not ”them foreigners” the real problem is this current government is not sustainably investing in affordable and adequate housing for all.”