Government suggests UK 'Rwanda policy' could explain spike in Irish asylum numbers

The British government’s so-called 'Rwanda policy' is leading to an increase in the number of migrants coming to Ireland, Tánaiste Micheál Martin has suggested.

It comes as Justice Minister Helen McEntee revealed earlier this week that 80 percent of recent asylum seekers have come to Ireland across the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Taoiseach Simon Harris has now said that new legislation may be required to send people in Ireland who have been granted asylum or have applied for asylum in the UK back.

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It has now been suggested that the UK’s Rwanda Act may be leading to the increased numbers of International Protection.

The controversial legislation, introduced by British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, came into effect on April 25 and will see some migrants arriving in the UK illegally sent to Rwanda.

Mr Martin told reporters in the Middle East this week that he believes UK legislation is “impacting Ireland”.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (right) meets Taoiseach Micheal Martin during a meeting at the British-Irish Council summit in Blackpool. Picture date: Thursday November 10, 2022.

Speaking to reporters in Dublin on Friday, the Tánaiste said that it is “fairly obvious” that proposals like this could lead to people moving elsewhere.

“I don't agree with that as a policy but people are entitled in their democratic jurisdictions to develop their own legislation and policies,” he said.

“But clearly we've had an increase in the numbers coming from the UK and Northern Ireland into the Republic.

“It's fairly obvious that a Rwanda policy, if you're a person in a given situation in the UK, well then you don't want to go to Rwanda. Not that anybody has gone yet, I hasten to add.

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“There are many other issues. It's not in any way trying to blame [the UK] or anything like that.

“Migration is happening all over Europe. It's a national phenomenon. Part of the EU Asylum Pact is that we develop proper policies so that we can return people who've already been granted asylum in one country so that if they come to Ireland, they can be returned to the country where they were granted asylum in the first place."

He continued: “The United Kingdom are outside of the European Union.

“It hasn't worked in the UK in terms of the numbers coming into the UK. I've watched governments all over Europe making big commitments that they’re going to ‘stop the boats’, they're going to stop the numbers migrating.

“Brexit was meant to slow down migration into the United Kingdom. Migration into the United Kingdom has grown exponentially, increased exponentially since Brexit.”

Mr Martin also conceded that up to 20,000 people could seek asylum in Ireland in 2024.

A Downing Street spokeswoman rebuffed suggestions that the Rwanda policy was already impacting Ireland saying that it was “too early to jump to specific conclusions”.

“Of course, we will monitor this very closely and we already work very closely as you would expect with the Irish government, including on matters relating to asylum,” she said.

Scheduling of flights to Rwanda could take between 10 and 12 weeks, Mr Sunak has said, meaning the first will not begin until summer at the earliest.

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