WATCH: Clean-up underway on Dublin street after makeshift asylum seeker encampment removed

Authorities have commenced an operation to move asylum seekers who have been sleeping in tents on Mount Street in central Dublin, beside the city's International Protection Office.

The Government said the asylum seekers had been moved to international protection facilities at the Citywest hotel in Dublin and at a site at Crooksling in Co Dublin.

A statement said: “A joint operation between the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth; the Department of Justice; An Garda Siochana; Dublin City Council; the Office of Public Works; and the HSE got underway early this morning on Mount Street, Dublin.

“The purpose of the operation is to ensure the safe movement of people seeking international protection from the tents on Mount Street to International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS)-designated accommodation. Those seeking international protection have now been safely moved to Citywest and to Crooksling tented accommodation in County Dublin.

“The Crooksling site has robust, weather-proof tents. It has toilets and showers; health services; indoor areas where food is provided; facilities to charge phones and personal devices; access to transport to and from Dublin City Centre; and 24-hour onsite security.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin said the operation in Mount Street is to ensure the “safe movement of people” who are seeking asylum. He said the sites that people are being moved to has facilities like toilets, showers, health services and indoor areas and facilities to charge phones and personal devices.

Mr Martin said: “The Crooksling site has transport to and from Dublin city centre and onsite security. The tents on Mount Street are not acceptable, not acceptable for migrants and not acceptable for migrants either.

“It’s very important that we do this properly and our objective is to make sure we continue to provide accommodation of this kind, and as well faster processing of those seeking asylum, particularly from designated safe countries. We discourage (the tents) very strongly.

“The state has, within its powers, the capacity to make sure we don’t have tents back up on Mount Street or other streets and our view in Government is very clear is that we can’t have tents in streets adjacent to neighbourhoods."