Ireland plans to legislate by the end of the month to redesignate the UK as a “safe” country for asylum seekers in a bid to start returning inadmissible asylum seekers who entered Ireland from the UK.
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Simon Harris said Minister for Justice Helen McEntee had received permission to draft legislation on Tuesday, and that she “intends to enact legislation by the end of this month.”
“In that legislation she will outline how she intends to respond to the issues that were brought to the fore by the High Court in March of this year. I believe there is a way of doing that, as do the attorney general, the minister, and all of the government,” Mr. Harris said.
“Regarding Rwanda and everything else, it is not the policy of this government but we obviously need to ensure our rules are enforced, which is really important. People in this country want to see a rules-based migration system,” he added.
Ms. McEntee said in a statement that it’s “essential” to have mechanisms in place to return people to the UK to combat any abuse of the Common Travel Area (CTA).
Under agreement between London and Dublin, the UK and Ireland forms a CTA, within which citizens of either country can move freely and enjoy similar benefits and privileges.
The two countries also have a non-binding reciprocal deal after Brexit on returning illegal immigrants to one another, but the Department of Justice said the deal has not been operational, first because of COVID-19 pandemic, then because of legal challenges brought by affected individuals.
Criticising the government’s plan, Labour TD Ivana Bacik accused the Irish government of trying to “enforce the Rwanda scheme itself.”
Ms. Bacik said “a safe third country is only safe for a particular applicant if that country is willing to readmit them.”
She also argued that the government can’t designate the UK as safe while the UK’s Rwanda policy remains law.
The UK government’s Rwanda bill become law on April 25, designation the east African country has a safe third country to relocate the UK’s illegal immigrants, including those who wish to seek asylum.
The government has said it plans to start the first flights by July to remove illegal immigrants who entered the UK on or after March 7, 2023. Their asylum claims are automatically deemed inadmissible under the Illegal Migration Act 2023.
In a statement, the Home Office said, “We are now able to send asylum seekers to Rwanda under our migration and economic development partnership. This deal allows people with no immigration status in the UK to be relocated to a safe third country where they will be supported to rebuild their lives.”
