Action needed to stop NI becoming asylum seeker magnet - DUP

The UK government must act to prevent Northern Ireland becoming a "magnet" for asylum seekers, says the Democratic Unionist Party's (DUP) interim leader.

These comments follow a High Court ruling over the Illegal Migration Act.

On Monday, a judge ruled that large parts of the act should not apply in Northern Ireland because they breach human rights laws.

Gavin Robinson said a "unified" UK-wide immigration policy should be enforced.

"I've said that if the government do not assert the sovereignty of parliament and ensure that we have a UK-wide immigration system, then there is a difficulty," he told BBC News NI's Good Morning Ulster programme.

"That's where we become a magnet because we know that the public policy imperative… is to act as a deterrent

"If it is not deterring individuals from coming to one part of the United Kingdom, then it could have the impact of a becoming or providing a magnet."

The Illegal Migration Act, passed by parliament in July 2023, aims to stop small boats crossing the English Channel.

The government should now "step forward", Mr Robinson added, but accepted the government would maintain their position in court.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the ruling changes nothing about the government's plan to send illegal migrants to Rwanda and will take steps to defend that position, including appeal.

The DUP interim leader said: "Ultimately, we will get a final answer from the Supreme Court."

The judge at Belfast High Court also ruled that the law breaches the Windsor Framework.

Mr Robinson said his party had previously tried to raise their concerns about the incompatibility of the act in Northern Ireland to the government, but they were dismissed.

Mr Robinson also said such a policy should allow people to move freely within the UK and between the British Isles under the Common Travel Area.

"We need to be certain and sure that the policy applies equally across the United Kingdom. That's the problem the government have and it is entirely of their own making," he added.

The 2023 Illegal Migration Act is a key part of the UK government's plan to stop English Channel crossings by people seeking asylum without prior permission to arrive.

It created laws that mean the Home Secretary must detain and remove anyone who arrives by that route and the plan had been to send them to Rwanda. That was until the Supreme Court ruled last year that the country was unsafe.

Parliament has since passed a law designating Rwanda as a safe country.

This policy is different in Northern Ireland due to the Good Friday Agreement and the Windsor Framework.

The Windsor Framework deals mostly with trade issues but also includes a human rights element covered in Article 2.

It commits the UK not to water down the human rights provisions that flow from the Good Friday Agreement, the 1998 deal which brought an end to 30 years of conflict in Northern Ireland, known as the Troubles.

Mr Robinson said the government should amend the law to disapply Article 2 in respect of immigration policy.

He said this would deal with the challenges of migration without diminishing the rights of "subjects and citizens in Northern Ireland."

In the House of Commons on Tuesday Alliance MP Stephen Farry asked the government for assurances that Article 2 and the Good Friday Agreement would not be unpicked.

SDLP MP Claire Hanna said she was glad that Northern Ireland has additional protection.

"Isn't it time that the government developed an actual strategy through safe routes, through actually targeting people-smuggling gangs, through investing in efficient processing," she added.

Earlier, former Attorney General Dominic Grieve told Good Morning Ulster: "It's always been known that the Illegal Migration Bill seeks to displace the workings of the Human Rights Act in Great Britain for the purposes of the deportation of illegal immigrants to Rwanda.

"In Northern Ireland the situation is different because as a result of the Good Friday Agreement, essentially the Human Rights Act is entrenched."

A challenge to the Illegal Migration Act was brought by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and a 16-year-old asylum seeker from Iran who is residing in Northern Ireland over "significant concerns" about the impact of the act.

The judge found, external that several elements of the act do cause a "significant" diminution of the rights enjoyed by asylum seekers residing in Northern Ireland under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Grieve said Monday's ruling could act as an impediment to carrying out the Rwanda scheme as asylum seekers resident in Northern Ireland cannot be sent to the African country.