London parliament News) – UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak rejects asylum seeker return deal with Ireland, citing concerns over EU’s stance on refugee returns and plans for deterrent measures. Ireland schedules emergency legislation for deportations.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has expressed Britain will not accept the return of asylum seekers from the Republic who joined the State after travelling from Britain via the North. Mr Sunak stated he was “not interested” in locking a deal with the Government over the matter, as he connected the UK’s refusal to accept the return of refugees from the Republic to France’s refusal to receive the return from Britain of refugees who journeyed on small boats from French beaches.
What Prompts UK PM’s Rejection of Asylum Seeker Returns?
The Prime Minister’s decision to categorically rule out bearing refugee returns from Ireland comes as the Irish Government schedules emergency legislation to encourage the deportation to Britain of asylum seekers who come via the North.
Speaking to ITV in Essex on Monday morning, Mr Sunak stated he makes “absolutely no apology for accomplishing everything I can to tackle illegal migration”.
“We’re not going to accept returns from the European Union 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. I’m determined to get our Rwanda scheme up and running because I want a deterrent,” stated the prime minister.
Mr Sunak’s remarks came after it was confirmed Minister for Justice Helen McEntee pulled out of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference session in London today, her spokeswoman has demonstrated.
Why Did the Minister for Justice Withdraw from the Conference?
The move tracks the cancellation by the British side of a conference that Ms McEntee was due to have on the margins of the BIIGC engagement with Home Secretary James Cleverly. “The Minister will meet with senior officials in Dublin today and regrets she won’t be in attendance at the BIIGC, which will be attended by the Tánaiste. The Minister looks forward to her meeting with the Home Secretary being rescheduled soon,” a spokeswoman stated in a statement this morning. However, it is apprehended that a number of her senior officials are already in London, having journeyed there to attend the intergovernmental meeting.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin will represent the government alone at the meeting.
A scheduled arrangement between Ms McEntee and her UK counterpart James Cleverly was postponed at the last minute late on Sunday evening. In a statement, a spokesman for Ms McEntee stated that the meeting with British home secretary James Cleverly, which had been due to be held in London on Monday afternoon, “has been delayed, and will be rescheduled shortly”.
How Valid Are the Department of Justice’s Migration Figures?
It is understood that the home office conveyed to the Irish Department of Justice that an unavoidable diary clash had occurred. The discussion between the two ministers was due to take place against the background of a diplomatic dispute between London and Dublin over the flow of migrants across the border, calculated at more than 80 per cent of all international protection applicants by the Department of Justice.
However, the chief executive of the Irish Refugee Council has asked this figure. “We don’t know how the Department of Justice came to the 80% figure and, as far as we know, has not published its methodology,” stated Nick Henderson.
“Just because a person has not applied for protection at an airport or port it does not automatically mean the person has crossed the border from Northern Ireland. A person may pass through immigration control and then apply for protection at the IPO.”
Daniel Holder, director of Northern Ireland’s Committee on the Administration of Justice, stated he is “sceptical” of the claims.
“When you look at what the Department of Justice said, they said the border wasn’t monitored routinely and the 80% seems to be based on the fact that a lot of international protection applications are happening in-country, in the Mount Street office rather than happening at ports and airports.