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A new people-smuggling route to the UK has been set up to dodge tighter cross-channel security raising fears today that it is the new “back door into Britain”.
Migrants are paying £10,000 for new EU passports before being flown from Paris to Dublin on the promise identity checks are far laxer in Dublin than Gatwick, Heathrow and Dover.
They then travel overland by car over the “open border” into Northern Ireland with very lax security checks, take the ferry from Belfast to Glasgow and then the final leg to London by road to start their new life in Britain.
A brazen people-smuggler making a fortune from the scam has said the “Irish Route” is a “guaranteed way to get into Britain”.
Funny how no-one ever mentioned having frictionless borders in Ireland would ensure illegal migrants would be able to travel on fraudulent I.D. into the UK. Why has no-one in government told us how they intend to solve this problem of simply being able to travel freely over UK's borders? It appears illegal immigrants just have to stroll from Southern Ireland to Northern Ireland, catch a ferry to Glasgow, drive to London and hey presto, welcome to
Britain!
MP’s have said that Britain must shut it down immediately., demand stricter searches for “fake papers” in Ireland and introduce a tightly controlled visa system for EU visitors after Brexit in March 2019.
Tory Nigel Evans said: “The British Government have got to make absolutely certain that when people come into Britain from Ireland, proper identification has got to be shown. We cannot have a back-door into Britain via Ireland”.
Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is also worried and said at a Brexit conference last year, “You’re going to get people (coming) in here. Let’s be honest about it. Wouldn’t you be an awful eejit if you were trying to get into the EU and you didn’t try (the route)? “
Sounds like a nice bit of propaganda to garner support for a formal Irish border, post BrExit.
That ferry crossing isn't pleasant as I remember. Stranraer to Larne. Went on it many times in the late 70s/early 80s when going to Belfast. Very sicky trip half way through.
What does not ring true about the article is the fact we have a common travel area with Ireland, so absolutely no need to have to cross the border into Northern Ireland and enter the UK mainland from there.
Far simpler just to catch a ferry to Holyhead or Fishguard.
You always have been able to cross freely as we have a common travel area with Eire
Its surely down to Dublin to be carrying out the checks on ID and then the UK at Cairnryan
We don't want or need a hard border between Ni and Eire
Hi
Spot on Missy.
The last thing Brexit needs to do is to bring back a Hard Border in Ireland and the Troubles.
More innocents killed and maimed.
There must be absolutely free and unhindered travel in Ireland.
If we do need a Border, it can be in the Irish Sea and sod the DUP.
It is not rocket science, all Northern Ireland residents get waved through, same with vehicles registered in NI, we already have the technology to do that.
If Varadkar continues to play silly buggas, he gets his bum kicked big time.
We end the Common Travel Area, Eire becomes a Third Country as far as mainland UK is concerned.
That will knacker his Economy, his choice, so be it.
Actually thinking about it, there is a very strong customs presence at Larne already. We travel that way a couple of times a year and its as thorough as the airport customs, all ID was well scrutinised , some bags checked over, police sniffer dogs etc etc etc, same at Cairnryan
Flying in and out of Gatwick as an internal flight is an absolute nightmare because of the extra security checks. I show my ID more times on that route then when flying abroad
I drove from north to Southern Ireland and back some years ago .
I didn't know I had even crossed the border until I tried to pay at the petrol garage with the wrong money .