Ireland claims that people cross its border due to the UK’s Rwanda policy

According to Ireland’s deputy prime minister, the fear of being deported to Rwanda is driving migrants to from their own countries and seek safety there, as reported by a British publication on Friday, April 26.

The government hopes to launch the first flights in 10 to 12 weeks. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s centerpiece policy, which sends asylum seekers to Rwanda if they enter the country unlawfully, was authorized by parliament earlier this week.

People in Ireland were already being impacted by the policy, according to Deputy Prime Minister Micheál Martin, who spoke to The Daily Telegraph, since they were “fearful” of remaining in Britain.

“To get sanctuary here and within the European Union as opposed to the potential of being deported to Rwanda,” he said, was what asylum applicants were aiming for.

The sole land border between the UK and the EU since Britain left the bloc is that which separates the United Kingdom’s Northern Ireland from the European Union’s member Republic of Ireland.

Due of the island’s history of sectarianism, the agreement that saw Britain leave the EU in 2020 included a crucial clause that basically left the border open without any immigration controls.

Ireland’s Minister of Justice, Helen McEntee, said before a parliamentary committee earlier this week that she believes the majority of those who seek for asylum in Ireland do so from Britain, crossing the Northern Ireland land border.