Ms Pako Mokoba:

I wish to thank you, Chairman, and other committee members for inviting us and for hearing our voices as asylum seekers. I have been in the system for six years. Last month, we protested about the system. Our protest is about the end of direct provision, not its reform. As Mr. Stephen Ng'ang'a said about direct provision, RIA works with the management so it is hard for our voices to be heard. Even when RIA representatives come for an inspection, they will alert the management that they are coming on that day. Before they come, the management will paint some rooms, cook nice food and make the place look clean. When RIA representatives come they do not speak with the residents. They will check that the light is working in room 101, but they do not talk to residents to hear what they are going through.

People living under direct provision for six years are sharing accommodation with families, including children. An eight year old child might be living with its parents but there is no privacy, even emotionally. When they want to do other stuff, how can they do it in front of a child? How can one educate a child when there is no table or space in which to do homework? Where is the playground for children to play? We are living in 2014, but a child born in the system does not know what it is to live in a house with a kitchen. That child does not know what it means to live a human life that is full. Life for such a child is only in one room and they cannot even visit anybody else. As we are living in direct provision, other people are not allowed to visit us. We have been living like that for six long years.

We have been in the system for years yet nothing has happened. I have been in Portlaoise for six years but we have never seen any organisation visiting us or hearing our voices. The first time our voices were heard was when we protested. That was when a NGO came to try to speak with us, but for all those years we did not know if such NGOs existed in the system or in Ireland generally.

It is like an open prison because one cannot be out of the hostel for more than three days.

If we want to stay out of the hostel for three days or more, we must let them know where we are going and what we are doing. We are living an institutionalised life. If I do not want to take breakfast, I am forced to wake up and take breakfast. If I do not want to take lunch, I must take lunch at a certain time. I must do these things at a certain time for four, six or ten years or more. Some people are 14 years in this system. Many of those in the system are depressed or have mental health issues because of this system. There are even cases of adults and different nationalities having to share a room. Everybody is entitled to a personal or private life, but when people are living in an institution like direct provision, they do not have any private life. They have no say with anybody.

As Mr. Ng'ang'a mentioned, management and the Reception and Integration Agency, RIA, work together. If people complain, they are transferred. They are transferred so far away that they will never complain again. They will be transferred to a place as far away as Sligo or some other distant place. They will never be transferred to Dublin, where they might be able to meet with people who might listen to them. As I mentioned already, we cannot be part of the community. The members of the community cannot visit us. They are restricted from visiting. They can come so far, but cannot go beyond a certain place. Therefore, how can they know the truth about the system?

On the payment of €19.10, the payslip of asylum seekers indicates a payment of €186, but what an asylum seeker gets weekly is €19.10. There is a significant gap between these moneys. Where does the rest of the money go? It is a business. The owners of the system are gaining, while the lives of asylum seekers are in limbo. After children complete secondary school, they live in limbo. They cannot proceed to third level, which is frustrating for those kids who are A level students. There are doctors and engineers in direct provision, but they are not given the opportunity to work. Irish employers will bring in somebody from outside of Ireland to take those positions, while people who are qualified for those positions already exist in the system. These people cannot work, not by choice, but because they are not allowed to do anything.

Some children in direct provision have a "Red" passport in the system. These children do not claim any benefit and are not provided with any social welfare. They are seen to be Irish children by the Department and their parents do not receive the €9.60 for these children. The parents receive no benefit because of having an Irish child. The parents living in direct provision are frustrated by the fact that this child receives no allowance.

The length of time spent in direct provision is the major problem. We stay in the system for too long. It would be better if direct provision only lasted for a year or six months. After a year in the system, everybody is frustrated, even older children sharing with their parents.