The UK will not take back asylum seekers who have crossed into Ireland as the Rwanda deportation scheme gets going, Rishi Sunak has said.
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UK Won’t Take Back Asylum Seekers From Ireland
The Irish deputy PM has said people are crossing from Northern Ireland because they fear being sent to east Africa.
Irish ministers are preparing emergency laws to override a recent Irish court ruling that banned returns to the UK.
But the prime minister said the UK was “not interested” in accepting people back from Ireland.
“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,” he told ITV. “Of course we’re not going to do that.”
Sunak told ITV: “We’re not. I’m not interested in that. 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 gonna do that. I’m determined to get our Rwanda scheme up and running because I want a deterrent.”
Asked if there were negotiations with the EU on returns, the prime minister said: “No. I’m focused squarely on getting our Rwanda scheme up and running.”
The standoff developed after the Irish government announced last week it plans to bring forward emergency legislation to allow it to return asylum seekers to the UK.
It came after the Irish Supreme Court ruled last month that the UK was no longer a safe “third country” to return asylum seekers to, because of the Rwanda policy.
Speaking earlier after a scheduled UK-Ireland conference, Ireland’s deputy leader Micheál Martin said the new law would allow it to send people to the UK under a post-Brexit agreement.
“There was an arrangement, an agreement in terms of managing this issue,” he added, without setting out further details. (Asylum Seekers)
But Downing Street has said that, even if Ireland passes new legislation, it is “up to the UK government to decide who we do and do not accept into the country”.
Speaking after the UK-Ireland meeting, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said “in no way [do] we want to upset our relationship with Ireland” on asylum claims. (Asylum Seekers)
However he added that since Brexit the UK has been directed to “deal with the EU as a whole entity”. (Asylum Seekers)
The issue was thrust into the spotlight after Irish Justice Minister Helen McEntee told the Irish Parliament recently that 80% of recent asylum seekers had arrived from Northern Ireland.
She did not put a timeframe on the claim, and on Monday Mr Martin told reporters it was “not statistical” and was not based on any specific evidence or database.
“But it is very clear from the presentations of migrants that there’s a change in the nature of where migrants have come from,” he said, adding that Irish officials had noticed a shift “over the last year or two”.
Ms McEntee had said that so far this year, a significant majority of people seeking asylum in Ireland had applied at an international protection office and not at a port or airport, suggesting people were coming from the UK via the land border.
Mr Sunak has argued any increased flow of people into Ireland shows his Rwanda policy is working.
What is the Rwanda asylum plan?
The government says any asylum seeker entering the UK “illegally” after 1 January 2022, from a safe country such as France, could be sent to Rwanda.
They would have their asylum claims processed there, rather in than the UK.
If Successful, they could be granted refugee status and allowed to stay in the landlocked east-central African Country.
If not, they could apply to settle in Rwanda on other grounds, or seek asylum in another “safe third country”.
No asylum seeker would be able to apply to return to the UK.
Ministers say the plan will deter people from arriving in the UK on small boats across the English Channel.
