Ireland has threatened to send police officers to its land border with Northern Ireland to investigate whether asylum seekers are crossing the border. Britain is looking for thousands to be sent to Rwanda.
LONDON Relations between Ireland and Great Britain have become strained due to the dispute over asylum seekers.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has warned the Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris, that Ireland must not set up checkpoints on the land border between the countries, as it would threaten the peace of Northern Ireland. Sunak expressed his concerns in parliament.
Attorney General of Ireland Helen McEntee previously announced plans to send police officers to the border between Ireland and British Northern Ireland because of the Rwanda law enacted by Britain. McEntee claimed this week that four out of five asylum seekers who have come to Ireland recently have come over the land border from Britain.
Deputy Prime Minister Michael Martin told The Daily Telegraph -the reason for coming to the magazine is that they are afraid of being forced to leave for Rwanda.
On Sunday, the authorities moved 200 asylum seekers staying in tents from the street in the center of Dublin to the outskirts of the city. They were staying in front of the asylum processing agency.
Anti-immigrant sentiment has grown in Ireland, especially because of the housing crisis and the resulting increase in homelessness.
The peace agreement prevents border control
Irish management’s concern about the arrival of asylum seekers across the land border is based on an assumption, as the border and those crossing it are not monitored. Police officers sent to the border would monitor whether asylum seekers arrive across the border.
The problem is that the presence of police officers at the border can raise the tension. The Good Friday Agreement in 1998 cleared the border of police and soldiers and made it possible to cross the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland freely. This eased decades of unrest in Northern Ireland, where Protestant Unionists who support British membership and Catholic Nationalists who support Irish integration had been fighting. When Britain left the EU, the countries agreed that the border would remain open.
Ireland has assured Britain that the police will not practically control the border and checkpoints will not be established.
Britain does not take asylum seekers back
Ireland wants to send recently arrived asylum seekers back to Britain, but Britain does not worry about them despite the agreement between the two countries.
According to Sunak, Britain will not take back asylum seekers who have moved to Ireland, because the EU member state France does not allow Britain to return asylum seekers who have traveled across the English Channel from France to Britain. This heats up the relations between the countries.
The Rwanda Act enacted by the British Parliament entered into force last week. According to it, asylum seekers can be transferred to Rwanda, which processes asylum applications. Those trapped in Rwanda are not allowed to return to Britain, even if they are granted asylum.
Britain hopes that the law will stop asylum seekers trying to cross the English Channel from France in rubber boats, but so far it does not seem to have had an effect. On the same day the law was passed, five asylum seekers died trying to cross the channel.
During this year, more than 7,500 asylum seekers have already arrived in the country across the Channel.
Asylum seekers are detained in Britain
In Britain, the authorities have started arresting asylum seekers and taking them to detention centers from where they will be sent to Rwanda in July.
The authorities have listed 5,700 asylum seekers who arrived by last summer for departure. They have not reached more than half of the members of this group. These have disappeared to new addresses.
The conservative government was audibly happy this week that one of the asylum seekers who arrived from Africa voluntarily left for Rwanda. However, this is a different program than forced deportations to Rwanda.
Those who leave voluntarily will also receive a generous 3,000 euros in severance pay and an apartment in Rwanda for at least five years.