‘Irish Sea Border’ exists for immigration, court rules

The north of Ireland has a different legal basis for handling asylum seekers than Britain, a ruling at the High Court in Belfast has confirmed.

A infamous plan by the Tory government in London to refuse some asylum seekers a hearing and send them to Rwanda cannot apply in the north of Ireland because it breaches the human rights laws of the Good Friday Agreement, affirmed by the post-Brexit deal agreed between London and the EU last year.

The ruling, in the test case of a 16-year-old asylum seeker from Iran, provides a unique protection for migrants in the north of Ireland compared with Britain.

Last week, it was claimed human traffickers were already bringing large numbers of refugees across the Irish Sea and then moving them across the border into the 26 Counties.

Tory and unionist rhetoric over the issue, including an absurd claim thay Ireland should sign up to join Britain’s Rwanda Scheme and/or seal off the line of partition through the island, was dismissed by Taoiseach Simon Harris.

The teenage asylum seeker was represented by Phoenix Law. Its head of immigration and asylum, Sinead Marmion, welcomed Monday’s ruling.

“The Good Friday Agreement has always been a beacon of human rights protections and hope,” she said.

“Today, the court, through the Northern Ireland Protocol, has ensured those rights apply to the whole community - including asylum seekers.”

Reports last week claimed that “truck loads” of immigrants were arriving into ports in the north of Ireland to exploit the loophole.

Aontú leader, Peadar Tóibín said it was “a major judgement” which would have “a big impact”. His party has has called for “an Irish Sea border for the movement of people”.

Speaking at his party’s Ard Fheis in Maynooth last week, Mr Tóibín said has was shocked that the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claimed last week that diverting immigrants into Ireland was a measure of success.

“In actual fact Dublin and London should be working in partnership in relation to dealing with this issue in the first place, because we have a common travel area and we have shared challenges on this issue, and operating singularly is not going to help this country to deal with this issue.”

But the DUP has said the north of Ireland could become a “a magnet for asylum seekers seeking to escape enforcement”.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson said the ruling could lead to the creation of an “immigration border” in the Irish Sea.

He said his party had repeatedly warned the Tory government that its immigration laws were incompatible with post-Brexit arrangements, but that London had failed to take action.

“It is telling that it chose not to do so,” he said.

Urgent Appeal