Minister to seek approval for draft migration legislation

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee will seek Government approval to quickly draft legislation that will again designate the UK as a safe country to return people seeking asylum.

The Department of Justice has been working on the change since the High Court ruling last month found that the UK was no longer safe for asylum seekers due to its plan to send some people seeking refuge to Rwanda.

Ms McEntee is determined that people who travel here after first seeking asylum in Britain can be returned to the UK once this new legislation is enacted in the weeks ahead.

The Government insists it is simply restoring an agreement it had with Britain since 2020 which allows people to be returned.

This was a post-Brexit agreement which was underpinned by the Common Travel Area.

However, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was adamant yesterday that no deal can be done with the State until there are moves by the European Union to allow Britain to return migrants to France.

Ms McEntee will also update Cabinet on garda efforts to prevent any abuse of the Common Travel Area.

The gardaí are working with the PSNI on this matter with around 100 members of the force set to be moved from immigration registration work to concentrate on front-line duties including deportations.