The reason why Direct Provision centres were originally called "dispersal" centres is still there - it's an attempt by @DeptJusticeIRL to operate govt policy of "spreading the burden" (in their racist logic) of refugee accommodation.

As a refugee the address on your official Minister's letter granting refugee status is crucial for accessing address-based rights to which you're entitled such as HAP. Often ppl aren't aware of this, and give the address they're currently at for the Minister's letter.

They're often treated as suspects trying to subvert the system. And they're left dealing with overworked Gardaí standing in sometimes part-time as county immigration officers who have little idea of the context or the importance of the GNIB card from the refugee's point of view.

In some cases, the Garda filling in as county immigration officer simply refuses to answer the phone at all and offers only email communication to which he/she doesn't reply. Other Gardaí in the station will not take phone messages to pass on.

If a GNIB card is sent to an address no longer operating as an IPAS accommodation centre & the former beneficiaries of an IPAS contract don't bother to return it, it takes months to process a new GNIB card, and only after relentless pursuit that's a severe test to mental health.

This whole area needs to be looked at urgently. It's a form of prolonged mental torture to give ppl the illusion that they finally have been granted refugee status, only to deny them the benefits of it. It's a form of re-traumatisation. @UNHCRIreland @AmnestyIreland @ICCLtweet

What training do Gardaí with immigration officer duties receive? Do they get tuition from orgs like @IrishRefugeeCo @NascIreland @DorasIRL or best of all @masi_asylum (I know the answer to the last) in the state's UN duties to the refugee? Faults in the system must be addressed.

Usually, the hold-up is in INIS, on someone's desk whom it's impossible to contact, and the Garda acting as immigration officer with little training for the job is left facing ppls' tears of hopelessness and ire of frustration. Many react with talk-to-the-hand disconnection.