*Sultan Muhammad Nasiri. Photograph: John Mangan
ASYLUM SEEKERS were not told where they were going when they boarded a bus from CityWest and headed in the direction of Inch on Monday afternoon.
34 male asylum seekers arrived at Magowna House on Monday evening, since then five have left, four left the premises to return to Dublin voicing concern with the reception from locals while one of the men was reportedly removed from the property.
Sultan Muhammad Nasiri had been in living in CityWest for five months before arriving in Co Clare. He told The Clare Echo, “We weren’t told where we were going”.
Now living in one of three holiday homes at Magowna House rather than the hotel itself, Sultan said the conditions in Inch are an improvement to what they had been accustomed to in CityWest. “There is no issue, it is good food, a sleeping area, a room, everything is perfect, we’ve no issue, it is better than City West”.
He was confident that transport measures would be put in place to ensure they could access services. “The place here, they can prepare transport so we will not have an issue. It’s not a long way, if they prepare transport system so we are happy, without a transport system it is difficult”.
Sultan who turns 25 this year believed there was no need for Inch residents to be fearful. “We are very friendly people, they are really good people, we will live here, we have some good people, 99 percent are good”.
With up to eleven men living in each of the three holiday homes, Sultan said living conditions were not crowded. “It’s not crowded, we’ve six men from Afghanistan, we are happy, we know each other, we understand each other, there is no issue, we are so happy, if there was an issue I would tell you but there is none, it is better than City West truly, in City West there was not a good life, it was not good food, no system was good”.
Before coming to Ireland, he was in the United Kingdom. “I’m from Afghanistan, we had a bad life there, the situation is really difficult in Afghanistan”.
