More than 80% of asylum seekers in Ireland cross into the country from the UK, Ireland's justice minister said, reported BNR.
Immigration tensions have risen in Ireland, amid a surge in migrant arrivals and an acute housing crisis that has forced some asylum seekers to sleep in tents.
Migrants and refugees regularly cross the border into Northern Ireland, Helen McEntee, the justice minister, told the Irish Parliament's scrutiny committee, reporting on Ireland's decision to join new EU asylum rules aimed at to accelerate the return of migrants.
„That is the challenge we have that we advocated for an open border on this island,” she said. According to her, those coming from the UK are probably more than 80%. The number of Nigerian arrivals is particularly high.
The UK and Ireland share a common travel area that predates both countries' membership of the EU. The border infrastructure between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland has been gradually dismantled since the Good Friday Agreement more than 25 years ago. During the Brexit negotiations, Dublin insisted that the border on the island of Ireland would remain “invisible”, with no infrastructure such as checkpoints. It is argued that this will protect the peace process and preserve Ireland's place in the EU's single market. However, there is a trade border in the Irish Sea for British goods and livestock entering Northern Ireland to avoid a hard Irish border.