Ireland’s Asylum Seeker Influx Is Proof of Rwanda Deterrent, Says Sunak

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during a press conference in Downing Street, London, on April 22, 2024. Toby Melville/PA Wire

Reports that illegal immigrants are leaving the UK for Ireland are showing that the “deterrent” of the Rwanda scheme is “already having an impact,” the prime minister has said.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told Sky News on Sunday, “People are worried about coming here and that demonstrates exactly what I’m saying.”

“If people come to our country illegally, but know that they won’t be able to stay there, they are much less likely to come, and that’s why the Rwanda scheme is so important,” the prime minister said.

The prime minister made the comments in response to claims from Ireland’s deputy prime minister, Micheal Martin, that the “Rwanda effect” was impacting his country.

Last week, Mr. Martin had suggested that even though no flights for Rwanda had taken off, the scheme’s deterrent effect had been “growing since the first iteration and publication of that strategy around Rwanda.”

Mr. Martin’s remarks were prompted by the revelation that 80 percent of recent asylum seekers into Ireland have crossed the border from Northern Ireland.

Ireland Planning Emergency Returns Law

The Irish deputy prime minister, who is also the country’s foreign affairs minister, is set to co-chair a meeting of the British–Irish Intergovernmental Conference (BIIGC) in London on Monday with the UK’s Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris.

Home Secretary James Cleverly was due to meet with the Irish justice minister, Helen McEntee, on Monday to discuss “strengthening” the Common Travel Area, but this meeting has been postponed, with Ms. McEntee due to meet with senior officials in Dublin instead.

Irish ministers are expected to meet on Tuesday to discuss emergency legislation to return asylum seekers to the UK. The law was drafted in response to an Irish High Court ruling that Ireland designating the UK as a “safe third country” for returns—in the context of the Rwanda scheme—was contrary to European Union law.

Ms. McEntee said: “I will seek government approval for the legislation to be rapidly drafted so that the UK can again be designated as a safe country for returns.”

“My department has been working on this as a priority since last month’s High Court judgment and I intend that returns to the UK will recommence once the law is enacted,” she added.

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris said on Sunday that Ireland will not “provide a loophole” for other nations’ immigration “challenges.”

Mr. Harris said: “Every country is entitled to have its own migration policy, but I certainly don’t intend to allow anybody else’s migration policy to affect the integrity of our own one.

“This country will not in any way, shape or form provide a loophole for anybody else’s migration challenges. That’s very clear.”

He added: “My colleague, the minister for justice, will now bring forward legislative proposals to Cabinet on Tuesday that will seek to put in place a new returns policy. We’re going to await the full details of that but it’s one which will effectively allow, again, people to be returned to the United Kingdom. And I think that’s quite appropriate. It was always the intention.”

Taoiseach Simon Harris (C) with (L to R) Niall Collins, Patrick O'Donovan, and Ossian Smyth ahead of speaking to the media at Government Buildings in Dublin, on investment in student accommodation, on April 25, 2024. Brian Lawless/PA Wire

EU Following UK’s Lead

In the Mail on Sunday, Mr. Sunak said that leading parties in the EU now recognise the deterrent effect of the Rwanda plan and are pledging to make similar commitments.

The prime minister wrote, “I said when I first became Prime Minister that others would recognise a meaningful deterrent is the only way to stop the boats – and now even top parties in the EU are following our lead.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) manifesto for June’s EU elections states that the party will “advocate a fundamental change in European asylum law” and proposes a UK-style asylum plan, including agreements with third countries.

The EPP said, “We are committed to the fundamental right to asylum, but the EU, together with its Member States, must have the right to decide to whom and where is it granted.”

“Anyone applying for asylum in the EU could also be transferred to a safe third country and undergo the asylum process there,” the EPP said.

Rwanda Plan ‘Not Working’

However, Labour’s shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock said new figures from the Home Office show that the Rwanda scheme is not working as a deterrent, with more than 7,000 illegal immigrants having arrived in the UK since the start of the year.

Mr. Kinnock said, “This is the blunt reality behind all of Rishi Sunak’s empty boasts; more people have arrived by small boats so far this year than ever before and more people are having to be rescued.”

“What will it take for Rishi Sunak to wake up and realise that his plan is not working?” the Labour shadow minister added.

An inflatable craft carrying illegal immigrants crosses the shipping lane in the English Channel off the coast of Dover, England, on Aug. 4, 2022. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Under the Rwanda plan, immigrants who enter the country illegally will have their asylum claims declared inadmissible and be subject to removal, either back to their home country—if it is deemed safe to do so—or to Rwanda.

The legislation intended to make the measures legally sound—the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act— was signed into law on April 25.

PA Media contributed to this report.