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Ireland insisted on Tuesday that it expected London to honour a bilateral agreement from 2020 allowing it to return asylum seekers to the UK, despite Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saying he would not take them back.
Ireland’s cabinet approved plans to revise legislation following a High Court ruling last month that the designation of the UK as a safe third country where asylum seekers could be returned was unlawful, under EU law.
The government said the change would mean the deal with London from November 2020 could be applied. No one has yet to be returned, either to the UK or to Ireland under the agreement, which was on hold during the Covid-19 pandemic and pending the court ruling.
As the immigration stand-off deepened, Downing Street disputed that it had any “legal obligation” to accept asylum seekers from Ireland.
A spokesperson said there were “operational agreements” in place but “it’s the UK government ultimately, who gets to decide who we do and don’t accept into the country”.
Taoiseach Simon Harris welcomed the British acknowledgment of the deal but added: “We also have every right when countries enter agreements, that those agreements are honoured.”
Justice minister Helen McEntee inflamed tensions last week by saying more than 80 per cent of asylum seekers in Ireland had entered via Northern Ireland.
Ireland is already at loggerheads with the UK over controversial legislation to deal with the legacy of the Northern Ireland “Troubles” conflict.
The Republic is struggling to house asylum seekers with 1,758 people not accommodated, some of whom have set up a tent city covered by blue tarpaulins in central Dublin near government buildings. Most asylum seekers arriving in Ireland are from Nigeria.
McEntee said on Tuesday the updated legislation would address the High Court ruling and ensure “we close any loopholes that currently exist”. She added: “We have to be able to return people to the UK.”
Her comments came after Sunak, who has pushed through a law to fly some asylum seekers arriving in the UK to Rwanda, on Monday rubbished the prospect of taking back asylum seekers from Ireland.
“We’re not interested in that,” he told ITV News. “We’re not going to accept returns from the EU via Ireland when the EU doesn’t accept returns back to France where illegal migrants are coming from. Of course we’re not going to do that.”
Ireland says this is not an EU issue but one covered by the century-old Common Travel Area between the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands that allows nationals to travel and work in each territory.
Micheál Martin, foreign minister, has said asylum seekers arriving across the Irish border is a consequence of the UK’s Rwanda asylum policy, which passed into law this month. Sunak has seized on such comments to say it is making asylum seekers change their behaviour.
But one UK minister said: “We haven’t seen any data to support that — this is something that has been happening for some time.”
Nick Henderson, chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council, a non-governmental organisation, told RTÉ radio the UK had “in effect gone rogue on its commitments under refugee law . . . in trying to limit access to the asylum system”.
McEntee, whose planned meeting with UK home secretary James Cleverly on Monday was cancelled by London at the last minute, said she would “absolutely stand over” the 80 per cent figure. Officials could not supply data and based its estimate on “the experience of staff and others working in the field”.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
