Ireland accused of 'rank hypocrisy' on border checks as it returns illegal migrants to Belfast by train

The Home Office won’t say if it has done the same with migrants entering Northern Ireland from the Republic.

TUV have said there are major questions for Dublin and the Home Office – accusing the Republic of rank hypocrisy for Dublin to refusing to recognise the border with the UK when it comes to trade.

The checks were carried out as part of a joint operation between the Garda’s immigration team and UK Home Office immigration enforcement officers.

The news contradicts claims by the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that the UK would not accept ‘returns’ of migrants from the European Union, and comes amid increasing tensions in the Republic over the levels of illegal immigration.

The Home Office says the government has “no plans for a returns agreement with Ireland for asylum seekers” and that its operation with Irish authorities was to prevent abuse of the Common Travel Area.

A row between the UK and Ireland erupted last month after the Irish justice minister Helen McEntee said that 80% of illegal immigration into the Republic was coming from Northern Ireland.

This week, Belfast High Court ruled that the part of the government’s Rwanda plan would no be applicable in Northern Ireland because of EU rights guaranteed here by the Windsor Framework – sparking concerns that the province could become a ‘magnet’ for illegal immigration.

In February, Garda National Immigration Bureau checkpoints on the M1 motorway at the border with Northern Ireland were carried out on on four separate days, according to a report from the Garda Commissioner to Ireland’s policing authority.

The report stated: “A total of 47 buses travelling southbound to Dublin were stopped and immigration checks carried out in respect of all passengers on board. From the 47 buses, a total of 25 persons were detected entering the State illegally, without the relevant visas or travel documents”.

All of the migrants were refused leave to land. All 25 were returned to the UK, 19 by ferry to Holyhead and 6 by train to Belfast.

The same immigration operation took place between 9–13 October 2023. It was carried out under the auspices of Operation Sonnet which examines abuses of the Common Travel Area between the UK and Ireland.

The Garda National Immigration Bureau, in liaison with the Immigration Enforcement team in Northern Ireland, conducted a number of checkpoints on the M1 motorway, to monitor people travelling from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland.

Another 25 people (22 adults and three minors) were detected entering the Republic without visas or identity documents and returned to the UK by ferry from Dublin Port to Holyhead.

A suspect was also arrested and charged with facilitation of illegal entry into the State, while another suspect was charged with facilitation of illegal entry into the UK.

In a statement to the News Letter a Home Office spokesperson said: “These people were stopped on their journey into Ireland. The UK and Ireland are both able to stop people entering their respective countries if they believe the traveller is abusing the Common Travel Area – as happened in this case.

“As the Prime Minster said, we have no plans for a returns agreement with Ireland for asylum seekers.”

The News Letter asked the Home Office if it has deported individuals to the Republic as part of this joint operation, but the immigration department declined to comment.

TUV chairman and Cusher councillor Keith Ratcliffe said: “The report from the Garda Commissioner to the Republic’s policing authority on the return of illegal migrants to Belfast and Holyhead raises major questions both for Dublin and our own Home Office.

“How is it that the Republic’s position throughout the Brexit process has been that the border with Northern Ireland must be regarded as meaningless and yet it suddenly becomes important when illegal migrants cross it? It is rank hypocrisy for Dublin to refuse to recognise the internal border with the UK when it comes to goods and yet insist upon it when it comes to migration but that is exactly what has happened in recent times.

“It is outrageous that the Home Office has connived with the Garda’s immigration team on this, conducting as they have a joint operation.

“How does this square with the Prime Minister’s claim that the UK would not accept returns from the EU?

“With this week’s judgement confirming that Northern Ireland is a soft touch in relation to migration, we now face the very real prospect of illegal migrants being able to come to this part of the UK without any fear of deportation.

“We’ve even had one senior politician in the Republic, Fianna Fáil Justice spokesperson Jim O’Callaghan, suggest that there is “nothing to stop Ireland from designating Northern Ireland as a safe third country to where asylum seekers could be returned”.

“The people of Northern Ireland were lied to when the DUP sold us a deal which promised that we wouldn’t be treated differently when it came to migration (an explicit commitment in Safeguarding the Union). We have also been mislead Whitehall claims that illegal migrants would be returned to the EU when in actual fact our own Home Office was working with the Garda to send them to Belfast and Liverpool. Such dishonesty and double standards are causing huge resentment.

“Northern Ireland should not be a dumping ground for illegal migrants yet it appears that we are being treated as exactly that!”