DUP leader calls for Northern Ireland and Republic’s ‘open border’ to close
The “open porous border” between Northern Ireland and the Republic should be closed, DUP leader Gavin Robinson said, after a Belfast knife attack triggered unrest.
Hadi Alodid, 30, a Sudanese national, has been charged with attempted murder of Stephen Ogilvie following the incident on Monday evening.
He had entered Northern Ireland across the Irish border by bus in February 2023, having flown to Dublin from Paris.
Alodid then claimed asylum upon arrival and in September 2023 was granted leave to remain in the UK until 2028.
TUV MP Jim Allister also argued the current system between the Republic of Ireland and the UK is having a “deadly impact”.
However, SDLP leader Claire Hanna accused those calling for a hard border of leaning into “people’s worst fears and anxieties”.
Labour Party chairwoman Anna Turley has said conversations are happening to ensure the common travel area is “not used as a back route for people to come here and exploit our asylum system”.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Robinson condemned the violence which occurred in Northern Ireland on Tuesday evening describing it as “outrageous”.
The Belfast East MP added: “It is impossible to share concerns about damage to our British values and then act in a way that tarnishes the very thing we should want to protect.
“The Government’s job, our collective job, is to act to protect our country and to defend our borders.
“The Prime Minister knows that the man charged entered our country illegally, he passed through two safe countries and attained asylum in record time.
“Will he meet with me urgently to discuss the steps he and his Government will take to ensure our values are enforced, that the rule of law in this country sustains and that he protects and closes the open, porous border between our country and the Irish Republic?”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was “very happy to meet him and other MPs from Northern Ireland”.
“We are all sickened by this attack but the scenes of violent disorder have no justification, we need to be really clear about that,” he added.
In an urgent question on the disorder, Ms Hanna criticised the “cycle of deflection and disorder”.
The MP for Belfast South and Mid Down added: “People are, of course, entitled to their views on immigration, and, of course, Government policy is imperfect, but this hasn’t been a debate or a conversation.
“There haven’t been proposals, there haven’t been honesty about the trade-offs, there has been mob justice, and some of the same old, same old proposals for a hardened border on the island of Ireland.
“Political leaders have a duty to lead, not to lean into people’s worst fears and anxieties.”
Security minister Dan Jarvis said the rule of law “must and will prevail”, and those involved in disorder need to think about the consequences of their actions.
Later in the session, Mr Allister, MP for North Antrim, said: “The law must take its full course against all illegality wheresoever it came from, but the deadly impact of the continuing open border with the Republic of Ireland for illegal migrants still stands.
“This Government presides over a situation where it is illegal to bring into Northern Ireland a garden plant from Great Britain, but yet we have an open border from the Irish Republic, where gentlemen like this Sudanese man can come unhindered, an illegal immigrant into the United Kingdom.
“Does the minister not see the problem?”
Mr Jarvis said there is “very close cooperation that takes place between the Irish police, PSNI, and other police services to ensure that there is the most joined up and effective response, but I accept the challenge that he makes, and I accept that this is something that the Government is and will need to continue to look at”.
Speaking to Sky News earlier on Wednesday, Ms Turley said: “If people are exploiting the common travel agreement in this way, that’s not acceptable. That’s not what it’s there for.
“It’s been in existence for over 100 years and it’s absolutely right that people can travel between the island and Northern Ireland freely.
“But it’s really important we make sure that we have a fair system that is led by data and intelligence, and we make sure that people are not able to exploit the asylum system.”