An asylum seeker is choosing to sleep in tents on the street because the quality of State accommodation is so poor. 

In a video seen by Newstalk, a man can be seen filming a dirty bunk bed which he describes as “not fit for a human” and “very dirty”. 

In the first six months of 2024, some 11,000 people arrived in Ireland seeking international protection - a figure 87% higher than in the same period last year. 

A bed in State accomodation for asylum seekers. Image: Supplied.

The State has struggled to provide appropriate accommodation for all of them and some new arrivals have been simply given a tent to pitch somewhere in the capital. 

Still, one migrant, Bashar, said some asylum seekers feel that sleeping in a tent is preferable to the State accommodation on offer to them. 

Although the Department of Integration allocated him a bed in “large  multi person, comfortable, tented accommodation” in Newtownmountkennedy, County Wicklow, Bashar said he would rather sleep in a tent on the streets of Dublin. 

“Wicklow is very bad accommodation - like dirty,” he said. 

“[It is] cold, the food is not good; it is not safe there also - the streets there do not have lights. 

“Now I’m sleeping on the streets in a tent every night.” 

State accomodation for asylum seekers. Image: Supplied.

Bashar said there are dozens of asylum seekers who, like him, have opted to sleep on the  streets in tents in Dublin instead of staying in State accommodation in Wicklow. 

A new life?

Bashar came to Ireland five months ago because he found life “very hard” in his native Jordan and claims that he is at risk of domestic violence if he returns. 

“My friend told me, ‘Come to Ireland, it’s a very good life here, safety is good,’” he said. 

“Because of that, I came here; I need to make a life for myself… and help my family in Jordan and Palestine.” 

Bashar.

If his application for asylum is accepted by the Irish Government, he hopes to become a French chef. 

“I need a chance here,” he said. 

“[At the moment], I can’t work here because I don’t have a work permit.” 

The Department of Integration has been contacted for comment.

Main images: A split of Bashar and accomodation for asylum seekers.