![\"\"](\"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/housing.png\")
A video circulating on social media showing asylum seekers being housed in a room with 10 beds and no windows was staged, the Department of Justice has claimed.<\/p>\nA video circulating on social media showing asylum seekers being housed in a room with 10 beds and no windows was staged, the Department of Justice has claimed.<\/p>\n
The footage, said to have been taken inside the East End Hotel in Portarlington, shows rows of beds next to each other in a small room.<\/p>\n
The video has been shared and viewed thousands of times.<\/p>\n
Many people have condemned the conditions of the accommodation following claims that up to 10 asylum seekers were forced to share one room.<\/p>\n
However, a spokesman for the Department of Justice said it has been informed the video \u201cdoes not represent the reality at this facility\u201d.<\/p>\n
In a statement, he added: \u201cHotel management has informed the Department that last night, a number of residents moved themselves from their assigned rooms into the room shown in the video.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe footage circulating appears to have been staged and the residents involved have been asked to return to their allocated rooms.<\/p>\n
\u201cSimilar claims were made about the accommodation in the hotel last autumn and subsequent Department inspections confirmed that the accommodation arrangements at the hotel had been misrepresented in a staged video at that time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Department is available at all times to address any concerns that residents have.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should be noted that applicants availing of accommodation services may also avail of the services of the Ombudsman who the Department works with to resolve any issues that arise.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are 71 asylum seekers who have to share 19 bedrooms at the East End Hotel in what the Department described as \u201con an emergency basis\u201d.<\/p>\n
It said no room is being shared by more than six people.<\/p>\n
The East End Hotel has accommodated asylum seekers for a number of months while places are sourced in direct provision centers.<\/p>\n
The Department has been using hotels and guesthouses to accommodate asylum seekers because the system is at full capacity.<\/p>\n
A number of former residents in the hotel were transferred to the newly opened center in Ennis before Christmas.<\/p>\n
The Department said the need for emergency accommodation arose after a sharp rise in applications for international protection \u2013 an increase of 60% in 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmergency accommodation is not representative of the overall system of accommodation offered to applicants,\u201d the department added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most recent accommodation centers to open provide own-door, self-catering accommodation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs always, the Department would encourage any resident to inform us of any issues that may arise regarding their accommodation.\u201d<\/p>\n