The World Briefly

May 02, 2024

Where the Grass Is Greener

Ireland

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Irish police dismantled around 200 tents housing asylum seekers in Dublin on Wednesday, shortly after the government said it would push for legislation aimed at curbing the number of illegal migrants entering the country from neighboring Britain, Reuters reported.

On Wednesday, authorities began moving refugees and their families who had been living in a “tent city” in the capital’s central Mount Street over the past year. The government said the asylum seekers were relocated to sites south of Dublin that include weather-proof tents, showers, food and security.

Before the police action, Prime Minister Simon Harris said it was important that the migrants do not return.

The relocation comes as Ireland struggles to accommodate a surge of migrants while also grappling with a housing crisis. It also follows an ongoing debate on migration that has divided the European Union country and ignited violent far-right-led protests last year.

Earlier this week, the Irish government announced it was planning to enact an emergency law by the end of the month that would deport asylum seekers back to the United Kingdom, Politico noted.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee said more than 80 percent of the arrivals entered the country from Northern Ireland, adding that the legislation would allow faster processing of migrants.

Even so, Ireland’s High Court ruled last month that the government could not send back asylum seekers arriving from the UK because the Irish government hadn’t determined whether they might face danger upon their return, Euronews added.

The government’s announcement comes days after British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claimed that Ireland’s surge is the result of the UK’s new policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, saying the policy has worked as a “deterrent … because people are worried about coming here.”

This story originally appeared in the May 02, 2024 newsletter, Mining Discontent.