Ireland will act to send asylum seekers back to UK, PM Simon Harris says
- Ireland takes aim at the UK’s Rwanda policy which is driving migrants over its border
- Dublin is looking to amend a law to allow the return of asylum seekers to the UK
Ireland’s prime minister Simon Harris warned on Sunday that Dublin would take action to stem an influx of asylum seekers from Northern Ireland, the British territory across the border.
Ireland would not, he said, let other countries use it as a “loophole” for their own immigration policy.
His comments confirmed a report from broadcaster RTE that Ireland is looking to amend the law to allow the return of asylum seekers to the United Kingdom.
Last week, Dublin’s Minister of Justice Helen McEntee – who visits London on Monday – told a parliamentary committee she estimated 80 per cent of those applying for asylum in the republic had come over the land border with Northern Ireland.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in comments broadcast on Sunday on Sky News, said this was evidence that London’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda was acting as a deterrent.
In response, Harris said: “Every country is entitled to have its own migration policy.