An Independent Senator has called for an assessment of the impact of the EU Migration Pact on the safety of Irish people after the horror knife attack in Belfast, saying “this has occurred on our island, which maintains open borders”.
Senator Sharon Keogan made the call on X today as the Belfast community was reported to be experiencing “significant fear” and distress following the nightmare attack.
“This issue cannot be ignored by Irish media; the video evidence is online for the world to see. This has occurred on our island, which maintains open borders,” Senator Keogan said.
“Ministers responsible for our justice and immigration systems should promptly assess the implications of this #EUMigrationPact for the safety and security of our population,” the Independent Senator added.
And Aontú’s Gemma Brolly said that while the “depravity and brutality of North Belfast attack has rightly shocked the world”, many “politicians are dancing around the issue this morning – and they should, because many of them have shouted down and refused to answer questions about migration into this island.”
The comments come after the North Belfast community around Kinnaird Avenue witnessed a disturbing and “absolutely horrific” attack by a Sudanese migrant on another man which was interrupted when the attacker was tackled by three men, one armed with a hurley, who managed to beat him away.
It has now been revealed that the Sudanese national came to Northern Ireland from Dublin. The suspect, who has been charged with attempted murder, was granted a five-year leave to remain visa by UK authorities after he arrived from the Republic; however, it remains unclear when he was in Dublin.
Aontú’s Deputy Leader and Derry East Representative Gemma Brolly called what is being reported internationally as attempted beheading in North Belfast last night “absolutely horrific”.
“What happened last night in North Belfast is horrific and our thoughts are with the victim and his family,” she said.
“It’s important to say one person doesn’t represent the vast majority of migrants in the north of Ireland, but it’s clear that authorities who placed the perpetrator here have a responsibility to investigate and be transparent about what they knew about this man,” she added.
“Aontú has sought facts about the migration situation into the North (and South) and the answers are not comforting,” she said.
“We have official documents to prove that the Executive Office (run by SF and the DUP) are informed by the British Home Office about the location of asylum contingency accommodation and the broad areas for dispersal accommodation as well as changes to the asylum accommodation estate such as closures of contingency hotels.”
“When we asked the Executive Office what they knew, they refused to disclose it.”
“We asked the British Home Office to outline how many people were placed here waiting for asylum applications to be addressed; how many people left their asylum accommodation and didn’t come back; how many people have been deported following committing a crime from airports in the North; how they decide to place people in the North, and they refused to tell us.”
“It is important to note how plenty of migrants come here and make a great contribution to our home. People have a right to know who comes to live alongside them, that the authorities have robustly checked who they are and that communities are kept safe. This is not anti-migrant, it’s pro-safety. For those who were born and raised here, the treatment for crimes should be no different,” she said, calling for an Irish Sea Border.
“The only way that we can control the movement of people between Britain and the island of Ireland is to ensure that entry and exits are checked with passports. Brolly added: “We’ll keep campaigning to prevent this happening again”.
Calling for calm in the community, the DUP’s Carla Lockhart asked “what action is this Government taking to prevent abuse of our immigration system, including via the land border with the Republic of Ireland.”
DUP Gavin Robinson said told the Stephen Nolan radio show that the attack was “barbaric”, “medieval” and something you “cannot unsee” – and that it was “the systematic mutilation of a human being” and unlike what people had see before.