"I arrived in Dublin in November 2022. I immediately submitted an asylum application. I had my interview last April, I am waiting for the response to my application.

The authorities immediately placed me in a family center in City West [editor's note: in the town of Saggart, about twenty kilometers from Dublin] with my three children and my husband. We stayed there for three weeks.

Then, we were transferred to Kippure, near Blessington [editor’s note: in County Wicklow, about thirty kilometers from Dublin]. In the structure, where I have been living for a year and a half, there are around 600 single men and 200 people with their families.

I feel like I'm in prison

We are mixed with single men, I don't understand why. This can create incidents. My son was once almost attacked by one of them. A man told my boy that he liked children his age. My son was very scared. I complained to the staff, and luckily the man was transferred. But nothing has changed, we still live with men in the same structure.

The center of Kippur is nicknamed "the refugee village" in Ireland. The site, formerly a holiday village, is divided into several housing estates in which the migrants are housed.

This place is terrible: they don't treat us well, they consider us worthless. Whenever I complain, the staff says I'm exaggerating. So I don't say anything anymore. I feel like I’m in prison.

The reception structure is not closed and has not implemented a curfew.

My children can't play, there is no playground. Nothing was planned for them. When my husband is not here, I do not leave the room because I am afraid of other residents, especially single men. So with the children, we watch cartoons or do coloring to pass the time. We do what we can to keep busy, but it’s not a life for them. They need to exercise outside. Thankfully, during the week, they go to school.

We live with five people (my three children, my husband and me) in a small room. We are constantly on top of each other. It is sometimes very tiring. There is a private bathroom but the kitchen is shared with three other families. It quickly gets crowded in the evening when it's time to make dinner.

In addition, the center is far from everything. We are totally isolated, the first town is almost 20 minutes away by car. There are three mini buses reserved for us to take us to Tallaght [editor's note: town on the outskirts of Dublin] or Blessington [editor's note: first town near the center]. But the problem is that there are only 16 spots. This is too few for the number of people housed in the center. So people fight to be able to get into it. It's always chaotic.

I've been sad since I got here. I don't feel safe. I can see that it is also complicated for my children. But I have no other choice, so I'm being patient and hope that things will improve when I get asylum."

*The name was changed for anonymity