The Irish Prime Minister has claimed that the British Rwanda The policy of deporting migrants to Central Africa has brought more people to Ireland.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said the UK’s ‘shocking’ new immigration policy has sparked a wave of asylum seekers in Ireland.
The news comes after the Tory leadership candidate Liz Truss has said it will extend the controversial Rwanda asylum scheme in an effort to increase aid under Tory party voters in the race to succeed Boris Johnson.
Mr Martin said refugees are using the Common Travel Area to apply for asylum after more than 40,000 Ukrainians arrived in the country and as it was reported that most refugees are applying for leave to stay in Ireland through offices in Dublin and not airports.
It has also been suggested, The Telegraph said Ireland has seen an accommodation crisis as a result of the measure forcing Ukrainians to be placed in tents.
Liz Truss, pictured in Marden on Saturday, suggested in an interview with the Mail on Sunday that as Prime Minister she would extend Rwanda policy despite being currently in legal limbo
The Irish government has claimed that the UK’s Rwanda policy of deporting migrants to Central Africa has resulted in more people arriving in Ireland. Pictured: A group of migrants are taken to Dover, Kent, aboard a Border Force vessel after a small boat incident in the Channel on Monday
Taoiseach Micheál Martin (pictured) made comments this week that new migration measures in the UK have caused a spike in asylum seekers
The news comes as Martin defended Ireland’s policy of suspending visa-free travel for refugees – but not Ukrainians – from 20 ‘safe’ European countries for 12 months.
He said in Japan on Tuesday: ‘We have had the Ministry of Justice investigate’ [the issue of asylum seekers] in terms of the treaty on refugees in safe countries who can travel. The number of people seeking international protection has increased sharply in recent months.
“I mean, this year we may have four to five times as many people seeking international protection as we did before the pandemic.”
He added that he thinks Rwanda’s policies have led to more people using the Common Travel Area between the UK and Ireland, meaning travelers visa-free.
A group of migrants are taken to Dover, Kent, aboard a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel on Monday
The numbers for 2022 so far show that the number is increasing rapidly and it looks like they will overshadow the 2021 numbers
Martin added: “You can see, and maybe feel that that policy announcement, which I thought was a wrong policy announcement from the UK, a shocking kind of initiative in my view, to make an agreement with Rwanda, clearly a motivation may have people using the Common Travel Area to enter the Republic – yes, I think it’s one of many factors.”
An Irish government spokesman later clarified these comments to the Telegraph, saying: “Recent policy changes in other jurisdictions, including the UK, as the Taoiseach referred to, may give the impression of a less welcoming immigration and international protection environment, leading to secondary movements of applicants.’
The Irish government also believes that this is happening because people travel between Northern Ireland and the Republic, as 60 percent of asylum applications are made at offices in Dublin and not at the airport, where nearly two-thirds of asylum applications are typically made.
Earlier this week, the Irish Times reported that an average of 1,400 people now arrive from Ukraine every week, and more than 40,000 flee to Ireland with a population of 5 million.
It also said the Irish military is buying more tents to house Ukrainians, already exacerbating the current housing crisis in the country, while the government is offering €135 (£114.85) per night for hotels and B&Bs to accommodate single adults.
It has also been suggested that Ireland has faced an accommodation crisis as a result of the measure forcing Ukrainians to be placed in tents. Pictured: Environment Minister Eamon Ryan pictured on Thursday
Mr Ryan, Minister of Environment, Climate and Communications and Minister of Transport, previously said of Rwanda policy: ‘There is a real challenge. It’s very, very difficult. But we’ll have to make it. We promised at the very beginning of this war that the right thing to do – and the Irish people agree – is to keep our door open, unlike our neighbors who have not taken the same approach.
“And unlike our neighbors, we don’t agree with the kind of approach where you send a refugee back to another country as a solution to a really challenging problem.”
He also clarified his vision again on Sunday, saying: “You don’t send people away,” the statement said Irish examiner.
The UK Home Office has declined to comment on the statements by Mr Martin and Mr Ryan.
Liz Truss (pictured in Marden on Saturday) has said she will extend the controversial Rwanda asylum scheme, in a bid to bolster support from Tory party voters in the race to succeed Boris Johnson.
Mrs. Truss, the Minister of Foreign Affairssuggested in an interview with the Mail on Sunday that as Prime Minister she would expand Rwanda policy, despite it currently being in legal limbo.
She told the newspaper: ‘The policy of Rwanda is the right policy. I am committed to ensuring it is fully implemented and to explore other countries with which we can work on similar partnerships. It’s the right thing to do.
“I am also committed to ensuring that we have the right level of armed forces at our border. I’m going to reinforce the border force to make sure we have the right protection right at the border.’
Rishi Sunak, rival of the Tory leadership, will also reveal his immigration plans in the coming days.
It comes as the first flight of asylum seekers to Rwanda has been postponed to November – and possibly next year, according to the Daily Mail.
A number of charities, a trade union and individual migrants who have crossed the Channel by dinghy or hidden in trucks have joined forces to challenge the policy of deporting ‘irregular’ refugees to Rwanda.
The Supreme Court judges hearing the case before the Royal Courts of Justice in London ruled that the issues with the flights will be addressed in two hearings, the first in September and the second in mid-October.
The verdicts will be handed down together, possibly weeks later.