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01-05-2024
DUBLIN/ LONDON: The Republic of Ireland is looking to amend the law to allow the return of asylum seekers to the United Kingdom, according to broadcaster RTE, after an influx over the border with Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK.
Dublin’s Minister of Justice Helen McEntee, who will visit London on Monday, told a parliamentary committee this week that she estimates 80 percent of those applying for asylum in the republic came over the land border with Northern Ireland.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told Sky News it was evidence that London’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is acting as a deterrent.
“What it shows, I think, is that the deterrent is … already having an impact because people are worried about coming here,” he said.
In response, a spokesperson for Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris said the leader “does not comment on the migration policies of any other country but he is very clear about the importance of protecting the integrity of the migration system in Ireland”, RTE reported.
“Ireland has a rules-based system that must always be applied firmly and fairly,” Harris also said. The spokesperson added that the Irish PM had asked his justice minister “to bring proposals to cabinet next week to amend existing law regarding the designation of safe ‘third countries’ and allowing the return of inadmissible International Protection applicants to the UK”.
McEntee is expected to discuss a new returns policy when she meets British Home Secretary James Cleverly in London on Monday.
“That’s why I’m introducing fast processing, that’s why I’ll have emergency legislation at cabinet this week to make sure that we can effectively return people to the UK and that’s why I’ll be meeting with the home secretary to raise these issues on Monday,” she told RTE.
Ireland had previously designated the UK a “safe third country” to return asylum seekers to, but last month the Irish high court ruled that this breached European Union law, stopping the process.
The UK’s Rwanda bill cleared its final parliamentary hurdle last Monday after a marathon tussle between the upper and lower chambers of parliament.
Sunak hopes the bill will prevent asylum seekers from trying to enter the UK on small boats over the English Channel from northern Europe.
Meanwhile, the British government’s plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda have finally been approved by parliament, ending a months-long deadlock between the lower and upper chambers over the legality of the policy.
Under the new law, any asylum seekers who arrive illegally in Britain will be sent to Rwanda. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged that the first flight will leave as early as July, promising a wave of deportations “come what may” over the summer.
Tens of thousands of people have crossed the English Channel in small boats in recent years, many fleeing war and poverty. The government claims it aims to deter dangerous crossings in small boats and to smash people-smuggling networks but rights groups have criticized the scheme, calling it inhumane and illegal, and say there is no evidence this policy will stop human trafficking or dangerous boat crossings. While Rwanda is often cited as one of the most stable countries in Africa, many accuse President Paul Kagame of ruling in a climate of fear and oppression.
In June 2022, the first flight taking refugees to Rwanda was stopped at the last minute by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Last year, the United Kingdom Supreme Court declared the deportation scheme unlawful on the basis that the government could not guarantee the safety of migrants once they had arrived in Rwanda. (Int’l News Desk)
