Ireland May Evict Thousands of Ukrainians From April Due to Lack …

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Thousands of tenants in Ireland, including refugees from Ukraine, may be subject to the prospect of eviction from the beginning of next month as the country is dealing with a serious housing crisis.
The housing crisis that Ireland is dealing with has mainly affected refugees as well as asylum seekers who are looking for shelter in Ireland, and the authorities have explained that these groups risk the most of being asked to leave the country, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
According to the Financial Times, the Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, whose government has already decided to end the winter ban on evictions from April 1, has said that the country is more than 250,000 homes short of the number it needs to accommodate refugees and asylum seekers, leading to homelessness.
For this reason, the authorities plan to end the eviction ban for those they cannot shelter.
The Minister of Integration of Ireland, Roderic O’Gorman, also commented on the matter. He said that the country is currently accommodating around 58,000 Ukrainian refugees and around 20,000 nationals of other countries under international protection, stressing that this is a real pressure on housing.
While the government has already revealed its plans to deal with the housing shortage, the move has not been welcomed by everyone.
The Financial Times explains that the opposition group, Sinn Féin, does not think that the eviction of refugees and asylum seekers is the right thing to do and the same has asked the government to show compassion and reinstate the eviction ban.
Ireland has taken other measures in the last month to help the country deal with the housing shortages, and in January, it required all refugees who are in a safe place to not go to Ireland.
Following the appeal of the Irish authorities, around 2,000 fewer refugees from Ukraine arrived in Ireland in January 2023 compared to December 2022, representing one of the highest drops in the bloc.
Data provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) show that Ireland has so far recorded a total of 77,721 Ukrainian refugees in the country. The same reveals that 77,300 Ukrainian refugees have already registered for temporary protection of similar national protection schemes in Ireland.
As for the overall data, UNHCR shows that a total of 8,113,170 Ukrainian refugees have been recorded across Europe until March 14, and 4,901,577 of them have registered for temporary protection of other similar schemes.
>> Ireland Extends Temporary Protection Validity Until March 4, 2024

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