In the midst of a pandemic, a group of asylum seekers were moved to a small town in rural Ireland. Then they began testing positive for Covid-19

Around 100 people in total were moved from several treatment centers, including from a hotel in Dublin where a guest from Italy was reported to have the virus.

Just a few days after they arrived, one resident began showing symptoms, according to three people who spoke with CNN. Then the rumors began.

The Cahersiveen Community was given little time to prepare; locals only learned a few days before that the Skellig Star – rebuilt in 2006 with the promise of attracting tourists with swimming pools and other recreational facilities – was turned into accommodation for asylum seekers.

Although they lacked consultation and were afraid of losing business from the only big hotel in the city, the people in Cahersiveen welcomed the group, bringing them clothes and toys. But when news began to swirl that asylum seekers were sick, and still shopping at local shops, people in the small town began to panic.

“Rural Ireland will be pleased to have these people living in the community … they will be more than welcomed,” said Jack Fitzpatrick, chairman of the Cahersiveen Community and Business Alliance. “But this is not the way to do it, to get 100 people into a very crowded hotel in the middle of a pandemic.”

The outbreak, which quickly spread through hotels, infected 25 people at its peak, announced on May 20 by the Irish Health Services Executive (HSE), but locals and asylum seekers continued to urge the center to close, joining together as a united front in a series of demonstrations.

“It’s not the same as a man who was killed by the police.”

Not suitable for purpose

Liam Thornton, law lecturer and Direct Procurement expert, welcomed the decision with cautious optimism. “After 20 years plus the government’s refusal that there are many mistakes, it is interesting to see,” he told CNN. “Even though we have never been here before, that implementation will be key.”

Asylum seekers, human rights campaigners and legal experts such as Thornton say the pandemic has highlighted structural problems that have long existed in the asylum system in Ireland. Against the background of Covid-19, conditions that are often overcrowded and worse become far more real.

“HSE has advised us, and everyone, about social distance, but you cannot get social distance where there is no space,” Misha said.

“We share a bedroom with strangers. We share a dining room. We share a salt shaker. We share a lobby. We share everything. And if you look at the whole situation, you cannot say that it is suitable for the purpose.”

Misha said she watched in horror as people began to fall ill around her, before being pulled into the emergency isolation room. The first suspected case of Covid-19 at the center was reported on March 24, the Department of Justice has admitted, adding that the person was not stated positive. They did not say when the test was carried out.

According to asylum seekers and previous managers, asylum seeker testing does not begin until the following week in mid-April. After the positive case was confirmed, all residents at Skellig Star were ordered to remain in quarantine.

“The timeline may not be important for HSE or the Department of Justice and Equality but it is very important for the residents of Skellig Star and the Cahersiveen community. This timeline confirms clearly that Covid-19 was transported by bus on March 18 and March 19 to Skellig Star and the Cahersiveen community. “

In a statement to CNN regarding the timeline, the Department said it had made an “honest mistake” for failing to receive March 24 communication and that “there was no attempt by the Department … to intentionally mislead or hide facts” related to the outbreak.

After her roommate was stated positive and taken to isolate herself in another center, Misha thought that someone would move her, so the room could be disinfected. When no one came, he said that he expressed his concern to an HSE worker on site, who told him that there was no reason to worry.

“It’s a shame for my intelligence,” Misha said. He tested positive 10 days later.

The Irish Ministry of Justice told CNN that HSE Development Workers were in the hotel to monitor the health of residents and staff during the outbreak, and now provide more general support, including accessing key health services and integrating into the local community.

The department said they continue to work closely with HSE and Cahersiveen center managers to ensure the welfare of all occupants and staff, including offering all residents of their own bedrooms and providing enhanced cleaning services. The center also intends to provide self-catering facilities so that residents can cook in their rooms, instead of eating together in the shared dining room.

Townbe, the company that operates Skellig and three other Direct Supply centers, did not respond to CNN’s comment requests. The Justice Department said it cannot comment on the value of the contract with Townbe until after two years, due to commercial sensitivity.

But the conditions detailed by the Department of Justice differ dramatically from what was described to CNN by two asylum seekers and one previous manager at the center.

Fear of the second plague

When Misha and other asylum seekers arrived at Skellig Star in mid-March, they said they had found a vacation hotel that was not ready for guests, or prepared to face the corona virus. Central heating is broken, bedrooms – smaller than standard – have not been cleaned, isolation rooms have not been established, personal protective equipment is not available and staff have not been inspected by An Garda Síochána, Ireland’s national police service.

“Cahersiveen shows us that the model does not work,” Mfaco said. “Giving vulnerable people to hoteliers, who have no training. No thought is taken at the risk of gathering all these people, cramming them into buses and taking them to remote villages far from health services.”

Jack Fitzpatrick and other local residents fear that health services will be overwhelmed if another outbreak occurs.

The closest major hospital to Cahersiveen, which has a population of around 1,000, is 40 miles away. There are only two doctors in Cahersiveen, and one ambulance serving the entire remote Iveragh Peninsula, where the city is located.

“We are very fortunate that no one died at the hotel, and we have succeeded in stopping the spread of the virus in the community,” Fitzpatrick said.

“Our biggest fear is the second wave … We fear it will spread like wildfire in a hotel again, but next time it might also pass through the community. So we basically do our best to try to make them close down and move people to sort out accommodation . “

People in the city are demanding the resignation of Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan, who they say is misleading the public over the Covid-19 outbreak on Skellig Star.

Ciaran Quinlan, from Cahersiveen, told CNN he was looking for an order to close the center. He said he wanted to “help these people to get accommodation at their own front door, and to move them from accommodations that do not fit where they are.”

Azwar Fuard, an asylum seeker who has acted as a spokesman for the 70 remaining residents at the center, called on Flanagan to grant amnesty to Skellig Star residents to remain in Ireland.

Fuard, who is from Sri Lanka, was transferred from the same hotel as Misha in Dublin with his young family when they began to feel calm. Fuard and his wife have found work in the capital, are friends, and their three-year-old daughter starts school. To be deprived of another life, he said, is like a double trauma.

Now he says a family of three is mostly confined to a 12ft x 13ft room, with en suite bathrooms and no cooking or washing facilities.

“We must be granted, at the very least, permission status to remain so that we can have our own accommodation, cook our own food and keep ourselves and our families safe from viruses,” Fuard said.