Just one asylum seeker was returned from the UK to Ireland under a post-Brexit deal signed in 2020, with ministers pledging to crack down on illegal migrants in Northern Ireland.
Government sources said immigration enforcement will now intensify efforts to track down, detain and remove illegal migrants from Northern Ireland following two days of anti-immigration riots in Belfast.
It emerged this week that Hadi Alodid, the suspect in the Belfast stabbing, claimed asylum in 2023 after travelling across the border from Ireland to Northern Ireland without a valid visa.
He was granted refugee status in the same year and given five years leave to remain in the UK. Alodid came to the UK via the Common Travel Area, which allows UK and Irish citizens to travel freely between Ireland and Northern Ireland without having documents checked.
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News of Alodid’s abuse of the system has prompted calls for a review of the Common Travel Area and the return arrangements between Ireland and the UK .
open image in galleryBefore Brexit, the UK was part of Dublin regulation which is designed to prevent people seeking asylum from moving between EU countries. European countries have agreements that mean that people seeking protection must stay in the first country they come to.
After the UK left the European Union, these agreements no longer apply. Under the Conservative government, a replacement agreement of sorts was agreed with Ireland that would allow for the return and readmission of asylum seekers. However it has emerged that this deal didn’t operate in practice – with only one asylum seeker returned to Ireland from the UK.
Analysis of government data shows that there were 2,379 asylum seekers being supported by the Home Office in Northern Ireland as of March this year.
This is compared to 97,519 people receiving asylum support in the whole of the UK – meaning Northern Ireland houses 2.4 per cent of the asylum-seeking population.
The number of people in asylum accommodation or receiving financial support has also been falling in recent years, with 3,030 individuals in this position in 2023 in Northern Ireland.
Alodid, as a Sudanese national, was able to stay in Britain in 2023 after filling in a questionnaire rather than facing the standard interview, the Daily Mail reported.
However, the fast-track asylum scheme under which the suspect in the Belfast knife attack was reportedly granted asylum in the UK is no longer in operation, the Northern Ireland Secretary said on Thursday.
open image in galleryHilary Benn told Times Radio: “That was a process that was put in place by the last government.” Asked whether it still exists now, he said: “Well it does not, because that fast-track process doesn’t operate, because the last government lost control of immigration.
“As you know, net migration is down 82 per cent now, compared to the peak reached under the last government as a result of a number of steps that we have taken.
“And because we now have dealt with the asylum backlog, we’re processing the cases quicker.”
Mr Benn added that asylum seekers are now “properly processed” in order for a decision to be made on whether they should be granted asylum.
Operation Comby, a multi-agency crack down targeting abuse of the Common Travel Area is underway. This has led to the arrest of 250 organised criminals and immigration offenders since Labour came to power, government sources said.
Immigration enforcement have been particularly focused on illegal migrants coming into Northern Ireland through domestic air and seaports. In the past year, more than 900 people have been found abusing the CTA routes through these entry ways, with the most common nationalities being Romanian, Albanian and Afghan.