A COFFEE morning was held at the Tralee International Resource Centre (TIRC) to mark UN World Human Rights Day yesterday.

The purpose of the morning was discuss matters such as homelessness and human trafficking and to shine a light on the human rights issues that are happening at home and abroad.

“There are a lot of human rights violations happening in our own towns and villages,” said Gillian Wharton Slattery of TIRC.

“The communal living in accommodation centres for asylum seekers  means that parents can’t provide their children a decent environment to grow up in,” said Gillian.

“The process to apply for asylum takes so long, if a person is turned down their appeal could take years to be looked at,” said Gillian.

“Because the system doesn’t allow an asylum seeker to work, it gives a very bad image of the people to the outer community. Some people have this idea that asylum seekers are living in luxury in hotels and that they don’t work,” said Gillian.

“Asylum seekers have a very high level of volunteerism, because they have to keep themselves sane,” she said.