The voices of asylum seekers are often absent from debates and discussions taking place in the public arena due to the vulnerability of their situation and an inability to speak out for fear it may jeopardise their asylum application. Within this culture of fear imposed and shaped by state processes of exclusion, asylum seekers are rended voiceless and confined to very restrictive and compromised processes in which they can speak out on issues directly affecting them. The aim of this paper is to present the narratives of asylum seeking men and women living in Direct Provision in the Cork area. This research was undertaken through drawing on the stories extracted from a number of focus groups conducted with asylum seeking men and women, conveying in particular the issues directly affecting children living in the Direct Provision.