A Donegal councillor has highlighted the issue of ‘certain groups’ spreading fear in communities around the arrival of refugees and asylum seekers.
Cllr Barry Sweeney raised the matter at this morning’s monthly meeting of the Joint Policing Committee (JPC).
He called on the Garda Chief Superintendent for Donegal, Aidan Glacken, to help clear up any concerns regarding refugees, asylum seekers and crime.
“There is a lot of fear being put into communities around the issue of new visitors, but we need to look at the facts,” Cllr Sweeney said.
“Is there any evidence of increased crime because of new people coming into the county or not? We need to see the figures as certain people are spreading fear about people coming into our communities.”
Supt Glacken stressed that Gardai have not noticed ‘any increased crime activity’ where International Protection Applicants (IPAs) are located in Donegal
Earlier in the meeting, Supt Glacken briefly provided comparative crime stats for the county for 2022 and so far this year. These showed there was a drop in the figures this year to date for reports of thefts from cars (down 32%), assault causing harm (-25%) and sexual assault (-5%). However, reports of burglaries were up 16% and ‘thefts from the person’ showed a sharp increase of 250%, from four in 2022 to 14 so far this year.
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