Irish government wants to send asylum seekers back to UK
Taoiseach Simon Harris has asked Ireland’s justice minister to bring legislation to cabinet to enable asylum seekers to be sent back to the UK.
Around 80% of recent arrivals to the Republic came from the UK, across the Irish border, Helen McEntree has revealed.
Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) Micheál Martin said the UK’s Rwanda policy was already impacting Ireland.
Legislation to revive the UK’s Rwanda policy became law on Thursday. The law aims to deter people from crossing the English Channel by sending some asylum seekers to Rwanda.
No migrants have yet been sent from the UK. The government says the first flights to Rwanda should happen within 10 to 12 weeks.
A spokesman for Harris said the taoiseach had asked McEntee “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”, Irish broadcaster RTÉ reported on Saturday.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Six One News, Ms McEntee said: “There are many reasons why we have seen an increase in migration toward Ireland.
“What’s clear in the decision that the UK have taken in choosing Brexit, they have actually seen an increase in people seeking asylum in their country. The way that they deal with that, it’s their policy.
“My focus as minister for justice is making sure that we have an effective immigration structure and system.
“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 [James Cleverly] to raise these issues on Monday.”
Irish government legislation – Twitter reaction
The Irish government plans to introduce legislation allowing it to send asylum seekers back to the UK
— Sophie Corcoran (@sophielouisecc) April 28, 2024
If the Irish government can send them back to us, why can’t we send them back to France?
