The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has said that the government should legislate to ensure that immigration law in Northern Ireland is the same as in Britain.
This was in response to Belfast high court judgment about the Illegal Migration Act.
A judge ruled on Monday, May 13, 2024, that provisions of the UK’s Illegal Migration Act should be disapplied in Northern Ireland, as they undermine human rights protections guaranteed in the region under post-Brexit arrangements.
The Illegal Migration Act provides new powers for the government to detain and remove asylum seekers it deems to have arrived illegally in the UK. Central to the new laws is the scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.
The judge said that aspects of the Act were incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The post-Brexit Windsor framework jointly agreed by the UK and EU includes a stipulation that there can be no diminution of the rights provisions contained within Northern Ireland’s Good Friday peace agreement of 1998.
The judge found that several elements of the Act do cause a “significant” diminution of the rights enjoyed by asylum seekers residing in Northern Ireland under the terms of the Good Friday agreement.
He stated, “The applicants’ primary submission therefore succeeds. Each of the statutory provisions under consideration infringes the protection afforded to RSE (Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity) in the Belfast/Good Friday agreement.”
The judge ruled that the sections of the Act that were the subject of the legal challenges should be “disapplied” in Northern Ireland.
In a statement, DUP leader, Gavin Robinson stated that without action to close the loophole exposed by the court judgment, Northern Ireland will be a “magnet for asylum seekers.”
Robinson noted that the DUP has repeatedly warned that the government’s efforts on immigration would not apply in Northern Ireland.
He added that the government repeatedly closed its mind to the incompatibility of the legislation with the Northern Ireland protocol, “yet our concerns have been accepted by the high court in Belfast this morning.”
“Whilst today’s judgement does not come as a surprise, it does blow the government’s irrational claims that the Rwanda scheme could extend equally to Northern Ireland completely out of the water.
“We presented the government with an opportunity during the passage of the safety of Rwanda bill in the House of Commons and the Lords to accept an amendment which would have put beyond doubt what it claims to be the case around the operation of the scheme. It is telling that it chose not to do so …”
Gavin Robinson
Moreover, the DUP asserted that it is imperative that immigration policy applies equally across every part of the United Kingdom.
“As unionists, we are clear that our national parliament should have the ability to make decisions on immigration that are applicable on a national basis,” he stressed.
“If that were not the case, it would not only be a constitutional affront but would make Northern Ireland a magnet for asylum seekers seeking to escape enforcement,” he added.
Government To Appeal Against Ruling
UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak said that the government will appeal against the ruling in the Belfast High Court disapplying parts of the Illegal Migration Act.
Sunak stated that the judgment from the high court in Belfast “changes nothing about our operational plans to send illegal migrants to Rwanda this July or the lawfulness of our Safety of Rwanda Act.”
He voiced that the Good Friday agreement should not be used to obstruct Westminster policy on illegal migration.
“I have been consistently clear that the commitments in the Good Friday Agreement should be interpreted as they were always intended, and not expanded to cover issues like illegal migration,” Sunak averred.
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