British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sees this as evidence that his plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is having a deterrent effect.
According to broadcaster RTE, the Republic of Ireland wants to change the law to allow the return of asylum seekers to the United Kingdom after an influx across the border with Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.
Dublin Justice Secretary Helen McEntee, who will visit London on Monday, told a parliamentary committee this week that she estimated 80 percent of those seeking asylum in the Republic came via the land border with Northern Ireland.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told Sky News it was evidence that London’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda was having a deterrent effect.
“I think it shows that deterrence … is already having an effect because people are afraid to come here,” he said.
In response, a spokesman for Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said the leader “does not comment on any other country’s migration policy, but he recognizes the importance of protecting the integrity of the migration system in Ireland,” RTE reported .
“Ireland has a rules-based system that must always be applied rigorously and fairly,” Harris also said.
The spokesman added that the Irish prime minister had asked his justice minister to “submit proposals to cabinet next week to amend existing laws to designate safe ‘third countries’ and to enable the return of inadmissible applicants for international protection to the UK.”
McEntee is expected to discuss a new returns policy when she meets Britain’s Home Secretary James Cleverly in London on Monday.
“That’s why I’m introducing rapid processing, that’s why I’ll have emergency legislation in Cabinet this week to ensure we can bring people back to the UK effectively, and that’s why I’ll be meeting with the Home Secretary to raise these issues” on Monday ” she told RTE.
Ireland had previously designated the UK as a “safe third country” for the return of asylum seekers, but last month Ireland’s Supreme Court ruled that this violated European Union law and halted the process.
The UK’s Rwanda Bill cleared its final parliamentary hurdle last Monday, after a marathon dispute between the upper and lower chambers of Parliament.
Sunak hopes the bill will prevent asylum seekers trying to enter Britain from northern Europe in small boats across the English Channel.