Ireland is promising emergency legislation that will allow it to send asylum seekers back to the UK.
More than 80% of recent arrivals to the republic came across the land border with Northern Ireland, Irish Justice Minister Helen McEntee told a parliamentary committee last week.
Rishi Sunak told Sky News it showed the UK’s Rwanda plan was already works as a deterrent after it finally became law last week.
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Ireland’s deputy prime minister has said the threat of deportation to Rwanda is causing migrants to head to Ireland instead of the UK.
Micheal Martin said the policy was already affecting Ireland because people were “afraid” to stay in the UK.
The former Taoiseach told the Daily Telegraph: “Maybe that’s the impact it was designed to have.”
Protesters in Dublin. Photo: PA
Simon Harris, Ireland’s latest leader, has asked McEntee to “submit proposals to cabinet to amend existing law on the designation of safe ‘third countries’ and allow the return of inadmissible applicants for international protection to the UK,” said a spokesman.
McEntee said he would meet UK Home Secretary James Cleverly in London on Monday.
“There are many reasons why we have seen an increase in migration to Ireland,” he told RTE.
“My goal as Minister of Justice is to ensure that we have an effective immigration structure and system.
“That’s why I’m introducing fast-track processing, that’s why I’ll have emergency legislation in cabinet this week to ensure we can effectively return people to the UK, and that’s why I’m meeting the Home Secretary to raise these issues on Monday.”
People are now “concerned” about coming to the UK, Rishi Sunak said.
He told Sky News: “If people come to our country illegally, but know they won’t be able to stay here, they are much less likely to come, and that is why the Rwanda plan is so important.”
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Are migrants fleeing the UK to Ireland?
Sunak said the comments from Irish politicians show that “illegal migration is a global challenge.”
“(That’s why) you are seeing a number of countries talking about partnerships with third countries, looking for novel ways to solve this problem, and I think they will follow the example of the United Kingdom,” he said.
Shadow minister Wes Streeting said a Labor government was unlikely to bring people back from Rwanda if some were sent there.
“Once people settle in Rwanda, they settle in Rwanda,” he told Sky News, adding that it was doubtful Labor would “resolve that situation.”
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Regarding illegal migration in general, he said it was necessary to “put the money that has gone to Rwanda into the National Crime Agency so that we can have adequate cross-border surveillance to confront criminal gangs, speed up the processing of the of decisions, to ensure that “We have serious return agreements with other countries.
And he added: “Those are solutions that can work.”