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Downing Street responds to Martin’s claim that Rwanda plans to allow migrants to ‘flow’ into Ireland

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Downing Street has said it is “too early” to say whether the Rwanda plan will cause an influx of migrants to Ireland, after Micheál Martin made the claim this week while denouncing the “knee-jerk” policy.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper led with Mr Martin’s comments on today’s front page, while comments from the Tanaiste have led to accusations in the British media that the Foreign Secretary is “looking for a scapegoat” over the immigration crisis.

Mr Martin’s comments also made the pipe story on Sky News on Friday, with the media reporting “high tensions” over immigration levels at a time of a housing crisis.

During a visit to Jordan this week, the Foreign Secretary claimed that migrants were flooding into the Republic of Ireland due to the “fear” of being deported through the UK government’s flagship Rwanda programme.

Mr Martin said: “I believe the Rwanda effect is having an impact on Ireland and that did not happen today or yesterday. It has grown since the first iteration and publication of the Rwanda strategy.

“It is now having a real impact on Ireland in the sense that people in Britain are scared – perhaps that is the impact it was intended to have,” the spokesperson said. Tanaiste added.

“They are leaving Britain and taking the opportunity to come to Ireland, crossing the border to find sanctuary here and within the European Union, as opposed to the possibility of being deported to Rwanda,” he said, while labeling the policy. a ‘knee-jerk reaction’ to Britain’s inability to control its own borders.

The Rwanda Bill, which was passed at Westminster on Tuesday, means asylum seekers will be flown to the Central African country after months of challenging negotiations and challenges around the legislation. The law was signed into law on Thursday.

However, a spokesman for 10 Downing Street has disputed Mr Martin’s claims that the plan has already affected movements to Ireland.

“It is too early to draw specific conclusions about the impact of the law and treaty on migrant behavior,” she said.

“We will of course be monitoring this closely and, as you would expect, we are already working very closely with the Irish government, including on asylum matters.

“But of course the intention behind the law is for it to serve as a deterrent and that is why we are working to get flights off the ground as quickly as possible,” the statement, released on Friday, added.

It comes amid claims from Justice Secretary Helen McEntee that the number of migrants crossing from Northern Ireland into the Republic is now “higher than 80%”.

The government has said it believes migrants and refugees are traveling from Britain to Northern Ireland before crossing the land border with the republic – which is open as guaranteed by a Brexit deal between Britain and the EU.

“This is the challenge that we have, that we have been advocating for an open border on this island,” she said at a committee hearing on Tuesday, conceding: “It is definitely a challenge.”

The comments come as tensions across the country reach boiling point, with figures showing the number of immigrants arriving in the state – more than 140,000 in the year to April 2023 – has reached a 16-year high.

Statistics from the Central Bureau of Statistics show a net immigration of 77,600 after the emigrants were exterminated, representing a 50 percent increase from 2022.

Last month the High Court in Dublin ruled that Britain is not safe for migrants due to the threat of deportation to Rwanda. In a March ruling, Ms Justice Siobhan Phelan said the Irish government’s declaration that Britain was a “safe third country” to which it could return asylum seekers was unlawful.

The judge ruled that Minister McEntee had exceeded her powers by designating Great Britain as a safe country after Brexit.

She ruled in favor of two asylum seekers who claimed their designation was unlawful because it put them at risk of further removal to Rwanda if they were sent back to Britain from Ireland.

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