Common Travel Area immigration clampdown sees dozens arrested

Dozens of people have been arrested in an illegal immigration clampdown involving the PSNI, Gardai and Home Office.

A total of 35 people were detained as part of the Home Office crackdown against people-smuggling gangs “exploiting” the Common Travel Area.

The CTA allows British and Irish citizens only to travel without passports between the islands of Ireland, Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands but it has become the subject of controversy in Ireland amid allegations that migrants are using Belfast as a backdoor to the republic. Migrants are also using Northern Ireland as a backdoor into Great Britain.

In a statement, the Home Office said Immigration Enforcement teams, “alongside police forces and other international partners, descended on locations including Belfast, Scotland, Liverpool and Manchester as part of a three-day operation”.

Checks were conducted at major ports, airports, road networks and private addresses across the country, “targeting illegal migration and disrupting smuggling routes”.

During the operation, £5,000 cash, a car and two fraudulent identity documents were seized. The multi-agency operation, the Home Office said, “was led by Immigration Enforcement’s Criminal and Financial Investigations team (CFI), in partnership with the PSNI, other UK police forces, and An Garda Síochána”.

On Thursday the Guardian reported that criminal gangs are charging up to €8,000 for illegal travel packages they sell as a safer route to crossing the Channel on small boats. Interceptions in Northern Ireland have stemmed from a UK Home Office campaign called Operation Comby launched last April to intensify routine immigration controls implemented by Operation Gull, a long standing joint effort with the Garda Siochána to stamp out abuse of the common travel area (CTA).

The surge in the number of asylum seekers going from Britain to Belfast and then Dublin was the centre of a political row in Ireland earlier this year after the justice minister, Helen McEntee, said there was anecdotal evidence the sharp rise in the number of those seeking international protection were entering the country via Northern Ireland.

Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, said: “This government will not stand by as criminal gangs exploit vulnerable people, giving them false hope of a better life in the UK. Driven by greed, these gangs have no regard for human life or safety, charging outrageous fees, preying on those desperate to escape hardship, and forcing them into illegal and dangerous situations.

“We are taking the fight to them on every front with our new Border Security Command. Dismantling the business models of these gangs does not just apply to the small boats trade – we are also stamping out other routes into the UK to bring them to justice and slash their profits.”

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