Racism

Recent asylum arrivals in Westmeath were met with protests and racist language from locals and had their asylum documents shared on social media. By Conor O’Carroll. Senator Sharon Keogan has shared a link to personal asylum documents posted to the internet following claims that a family seeking asylum in Ireland had received a “new 3-bed apartment” after arriving. The independent Senator claimed that the family had arrived in Belfast last week before travelling down to Dublin to claim asylum. She cited a Facebook post from a little-known community group from Coole, County Westmeath, called Coole Concerns. The group shared pictures of what appears to be personal asylum documentation obtained from the applicants, who travelled to Ireland from Bangladesh fearing for their safety, according to the documents. Racist language was used to describe the families that remained stranded in the taxi, describing them as “gorillas”, with the group also demanding they be sent back to Dublin Bangladesh has been rocked by protests and political violence over the past number of weeks ahead of contentious elections set to be held in January. The violence has left at least eleven dead and thousands arrested, according to reports from Human Rights Watch. The opposition leader, along with over 160 Bangladesh Nationalist Party officials, has been charged with the murder of a police officer – an offence that carries the death penalty. Amnesty International has also recently criticised the Bangladeshi government’s “callous disregard for the right to life” relating to its use of capital punishment. Speaking to right-wing platform, Gript, Coole Concerns members said the family approached the group, who were standing outside protesting their arrival, seeking help from them. They said the family produced the documents provided to them by the Department of Children and the group took pictures of them and posted them online. A spokesperson for Coole Concerns told Village they were unsure whether permission was sought from the family to photograph and post their asylum documents, adding that there wasn’t agreement in the group on the matter. They did not answer questions asking whether sharing these documents had undermined the safety of the family in Ireland. Coole Concerns was formed in October this year following confirmation from the Department of Children that temporary emergency accommodation was to be used in the village to house 98 asylum seekers. The group has held meetings in the community and has attracted the support of National Party leader James Reynolds. The group has claimed that the village will be “up-ended and way of life completely changed” due to the arrival of these families and that there aren’t sufficient amenities in the area to support them. A series of protests outside the refurbished accommodation centre on the grounds of a former orthopaedic hospital have been held over the past number of weeks, including blocking the entrance and leaving families stranded in the taxis they arrived in. A livestream recording from the night the families arrived heard cries of “you’re not an Irishman, you’re a piece of shit” from the crowd, though it was unclear to whom it was directed. Videos from the night also saw the Coole Concerns members engaging with an official from the Department of Children and a member of An Garda Síochána. Racist language was used to describe the families that remained stranded in the taxi, describing them as “gorillas”, with the group also demanding they be sent back to Dublin. There was no reaction from those who were gathered to the racist language, apart from pleas from the Department of Children official to “not use that language about any human being”. The family produced the documents provided to them by the Department of Children and the group took pictures of them and posted them online The spokesperson for Coole Concerns, who asked not to be named, initially said that the person who used the racist language was an elderly man in the community, but later claimed that the person was not from the village, adding that they don’t think “the way it was said was the way it was meant”. They also claimed the man was not a part of the Coole Concerns committee or wider group. “We’re not racist in our group”, the spokesperson continued. The barricade outside the accommodation lasted for several hours, with the last livestream update coming in the early hours of the morning. As the families finally entered their accommodation, they were met with jeers from the gathered crowd. In recent days, the group has also shared posts from conspiracy website The Irish Inquiry and a Facebook page purporting to be the Australian Tea Party. Australia’s register of political parties does not include the ‘Tea Party’ and their website features several stock images claiming to be the party’s politicians. Senator Keogan told Village: “The publishing of anecdotal evidence of what towns and villages across the country are experiencing is vital if people are to be equipped with the information necessary to realise the full picture of what is going on”. “I utterly condemn any verbal attacks on, or use of slurs in referring to, any person”, Senator Keogan continued, saying “the thinking of others as ‘lesser’ has no place in Irish society”. She also said she abhors “violence of any kind”, calling for anyone thinking of targeting this family to “do nothing of the sort”.