British PM: Sending ‘police to villages in Donegal’ not the answer to illegal migrants

A row over asylum seekers crossing the border from Northern Ireland into the Republic led to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak say that sending ‘police to villages in Donegal’ is not the correct approach.

Sunak was responding to DUP MP Carla Lockhart, who questioned the claims of the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, that 80 per cent of international protection applicants are crossing the land border.

“The Secretary of State (Chris Heaton-Harris) is seeking urgent clarification that there will be no disruption or police checkpoints at or near the border,” Sunak said in the Commons.

"I can confirm that the United Kingdom has no legal obligation to accept returns of illegal migrants from Ireland.

“It is no surprise that our robust approach to illegal migration is providing a deterrent, but the answer is not to send police to villages in Donegal but to work with us in partnership to strengthen our external borders all around the common travel area that we share.”

McEntee's claims came following the passing of the UK's Safety of Rwanda Act.

Taoiseach Simon Harris was asked about plans to send gardai to the border and he said: “Of course there won’t be.”