Letter: Northern Ireland ​risks becoming an immigration hub due to effects of the protocol

Northern Ireland, in many areas beyond merely trade, finds itself separated from the legal framework applicable in the rest of the United Kingdom.

The Charter of Fundamental Rights (which is different and more extensive than the ECHR) and a number of EU directives relevant in the field of immigration continue with unabated force in Northern Ireland due to the provisions of Article 2 (1) of the protocol which, due to the effect of section 7A of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, has complete supremacy over every other domestic law - including the Rwanda Bill.

This in reality means that a migrant in NI will have enhanced legal weaponry to deploy to frustrate deportation than would be the case if the same individual were residing within GB. The problem is therefore obvious: due to the protocol, people - in terms of immigration - in NI are treated differently than those in Great Britain.

That there would be different immigration thresholds within what should be one sovereign territory is evidence of the constitutional damage inflicted on the Union. NI is effectively hybrid EU-UK territory, rather than a full and meaningful part of the UK.

In consequence, aside from all the constitutional issues flowing from these arrangements, Northern Ireland risks becoming an immigration hub and we could even see the absurd situation whereby someone facing deportation from GB jumps on a boat to NI and relies on the enhanced legal tools available in this part of the UK to frustrate the process.

The Rwanda Bill, with which I agree in terms of intent (but maintain it doesn’t go far enough), is nevertheless fatally defective because it fails to take the necessary steps to sweep away the protocol - via a notwithstanding section 7A clause - and thus ensure the entire United Kingdom is on the same footing.

In the most simplistic terms, the border perimeter of the UK is being hardened (in different ways to combat illegal immigration), but yet one part of that perimeter- the entry point via Northern Ireland- is being left wide out, and moreover with NI being a haven for illegal immigrants who have more favourable legal weaponry than that availing them in GB.

The long-term risk is that, as with goods, the perimeter will be hardened across the Irish Sea, rather than where it should be hardened which is at the NI-RoI land border which divides sovereign UK territory from the EU. The Irish Sea customs border will also become a free movement border, thus the same way as goods cannot flow freely between GB-NI, nor will people be able to move freely in either direction.

This is a huge constitutional issue, and anyone who fails to see the significant dangers for the Union needs to acquaint themselves with the full panoply of protocol provisions.

Jamie Bryson, NI director of policy, Centre for the Union