Amnesty UK refugee & migrant rights programme director. Tweets relate more or less to issues on which I work. For media enquiries: https://xitter.cf/t.co/gtyf9bZTnE
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ALT illustration reads "Seeking asylum is a human right"
ALT Sir, We write as organisations concerned with the protection of human rights across the island of Ireland, and especially with the rights of migrants and people seeking asylum. We have profound concerns at the draconian approach taken by the UK government to people seeking international protection, including with its Rwanda scheme, directly defying its own courts and international law.In response, the Irish Minister for Justice has made questionable and unsubstantiated claims relating to international protection applications emanating from across the land border, and consequently redeployed 100 gardaí to unclear “frontline roles”.
ALT Whatever the accuracy of such assertions, Ireland’s obligations under international human rights law and under the Belfast Agreement cannot be sacrificed or undermined. Subsequent assurances that gardaí will not be assigned to police the Border ring hollow in the context that such selective Garda passport checks on the Border already take place, at times on the basis of quite blatant racial discrimination. A recent Garda report to the Policing Authority confirmed these checks are ongoing.
ALT A 2023 ESRI report on migrant experience of crossing the border, commissioned by the Government’s own Shared Island Unit, found that “border checks and racial profiling were a consistent theme” in which “participants reported many incidents of racial profiling with particular groups of people are asked to produce their passports” on the basis of “skin colour” and other ethnic indicators.Far from being ramped up, these ethnic profiling practices need to stop once and for all.
ALT We call on authorities in both jurisdictions to ensure effective access to the asylum procedure, as per their legal obligations. We also call for greater transparency as this week’s diplomatic row has shone a light on how collaboration between the UK and Ireland within the Common Travel Area (CTA) has long been shrouded in secrecy, with unpublished agreements and closed-door meetings. We all have a stake in protecting the hard-won freedoms on the island of Ireland and must stay true to our values, and adhere to international obligations. – Yours, etc,
