Riots in Belfast Make Britain Tighten Immigration Controls

ILLUSTRATION UNSPLASH

LONDON - Britain plans to tighten immigration enforcement, including increasing checks on the border with Ireland, following riots in Belfast.

Irish Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan had separate phone calls with UK Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn and Northern Ireland Justice Minister Naomi Long, according to Irish media report RTE.

According to O'Callaghan's office, the talks discussed cross-border cooperation as well as measures to maintain the sustainability of the Common Travel Area - an arrangement that allows British and Irish citizens to move freely between the two countries.

At the UK-Ireland summit in March, the two governments agreed to expand information exchange on migration and strengthen efforts to identify individuals who abuse travel facilities, said O'Callaghan's office.

The issue has come back into focus after a stabbing incident in Belfast on Monday, which sparked anti-immigrant riots and sharpened the debate on the movement of people through open borders between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

A Sudanese man named Hadi Alodid has been accused of repeatedly stabbing a local man's head and upper body in a video-recorded attack on the streets of Belfast.

He was arrested at the scene on Monday and appeared in court on Wednesday, where the judge ordered his detention.

According to the police, Alodid traveled from Sudan to Paris before flying to Dublin and then entering Northern Ireland.

He applied for asylum in February 2023 and obtained a residence permit in the UK the same year. Police said Alodid was never under the surveillance of the security service.

The attack, which left a local resident seriously injured, sparked anti-immigrant riots in several areas of Belfast.

Masked groups burned houses and vehicles during the riots. Police arrested 16 people in connection with the violence on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government is preparing additional resources to combat illegal immigration, including in Northern Ireland.

According to RTE, intelligence-based operations will be expanded in the next three years, including targeted checks on the Common Travel Area to detect and detain undocumented migrants.

The British Ministry of the Interior has allocated 3.7 billion pounds sterling (almost Rp89 trillion) for various immigration enforcement measures until 2029.