File photo Source: Shutterstock/superoke

YOU COULD BE sharing a room with people from very different cultures. You can’t choose who you’re sharing with. You can’t choose who you are. Some people come from backgrounds who have a problem with LGBT people so you have to always hide who you are. It is very difficult.

One of the guys was very annoying and used to harass me, he always tried to touch me … There are other guys who just stand in the corridor and ask me to come to their room.

RESIDENTS AT DIRECT Provision centres often have to live in a confined space, sharing a room with people they do not know or get on with.

Some people living in the centres have experienced intimidation, harassment and threats from other residents.

Asylum seekers living in Clondalkin Towers, which is due to close in June, recently spoke to TheJournal.ie about their experiences living in the centre.

Hicham felt unsafe in his own country, Morocco, where being gay is a criminal offence. He moved to South Africa, but also experienced homophobia there.

Hicham said some people in Johannesburg, where he managed a B&B, accepted him but others did not. “Some people accepted you, some people didn’t accept you – it depended on the area. When you’re at work they call you names like queer, something like that.”

The 34-year-old hoped to settle in South Africa but, over time, he knew this would not happen. He decided to move after being threatened and robbed at gunpoint twice within weeks. Hicham believes the attackers knew him as they were aware he was gay.

They put a gun to my head, they put a gun to my head twice, they took my car twice, they called me names because of my orientation.

Hicham said he moved to Ireland “for safety”. He has lived at the DP centre in Clondalkin since 2017 and is waiting for a decision about his asylum status.

He didn’t foresee having to hide his sexual orientation here but, when he is at the centre, he said he does.

One of the bedrooms in the Clondalkin DP centre.

He said certain residents are openly homophobic, some of whom become aggressive when they drink alcohol – something that isn’t permitted at the centre.

“It’s a big change, especially when you’re put with two people from very different cultures. You could be sharing a room with people from very different cultures. You can’t choose who you’re sharing with.

You can’t choose who you are. Some people come from backgrounds who have a problem with LGBT people so you have to always hide who you are.

“It is very difficult. I have to pretend to be somebody else. Most of the time I don’t stay in the room, I do a lot of activities.”

Converting religion

Aisha*, another resident at the centre in Clondalkin, is also waiting to hear about her status. Originally from Pakistan, she arrived in Ireland nearly four years ago.

She is an only child and when her mother died as a result of complications from Motor Neurone Disease she said her uncle forced her to sign over her mother’s property. She has no relationship with her father.

Aisha has been in Ireland since 2015. She said she chose here as she knew a friend who lived in the country.

She was raised as a Muslim but converted to Christianity while in Ireland – something that has caused tension with some other residents at the centre, including a former roommate of hers.

Aisha said, for many people, Islam is “more than a religion, it’s a lifestyle, it’s an identity”. She started to attend a local church about two years ago, after doing some research on Christianity. She decided to convert but initially wanted to keep the process private.

I didn’t tell anybody, I was trying to understand myself and what I was going through.

Her former roommate was a Muslim and when Aisha stopped praying with her, she began to ask questions. Eventually she had to tell her the truth during Ramadan, as she was not fasting.

“When I told my roommate she said she was very upset with me, that I had disappointed her and really hurt her. She said to me, ‘Your parents brought you up a certain way, would they be happy about this?’

The canteen area in the Clondalkin DP centre.

“People in the centre came up and asked if I was still a Muslim, they knew something was different.

It was a difficult time for me, some people were staring at me when I was getting meals. It was very uncomfortable, I knew they were gossiping about me.

Aisha said people’s religious beliefs should be respected and they should be free to practice whatever religion they identify with.

‘He always tried to touch me’

Aisha said she has been harassed and propositioned by other residents on numerous occasions. She said another of her former roommates used to invite people back to their room late at night.

They would come anytime of the day or night, without being considerate of my privacy. One of the guys was very annoying and used to harass me, he always tried to touch me and wouldn’t listen.

“My roommate would hardly say anything, I was just forced to leave the room every time. It was very upsetting.”

Aisha said she eventually told the centre’s management about the situation and they facilitated a room change for her.

Aisha said there have been a number of other instances where she has been harassed.

There are also few guys who just stand in the corridor and ask me to come to their room.