Imagine for a moment, if you will, a van full of armed, alleged assassins driving on a country road to reportedly execute a target, with the potential to cause “dozens of casualties.”
No, this isn’t a promo for the upcoming James Bond movie; it was a reality for the people of Offaly just last year.
Last May, in 2020, Irish media told of a “Brazilian Murder Squad” (that’s their term, not ours) who were intercepted by police while allegedly trying to kill a Traveller in Clara, Co. Offaly. The four men admitted to wielding submachine guns and sawn-off shotguns.
How a €70 debt resulted in a Traveller gang bringing a Brazilian 'murder squad' to Offaly https://t.co/dX6fGLrmhQ pic.twitter.com/AwS9pLxbOF
— Irish Independent (@Independent_ie) May 27, 2020
As reported by Extra.ie:
“A senior source told the Mail: ‘If these men had opened fire with a sub-machine gun up in that housing estate, it could have been absolute carnage considering all the families based up there, there could have been dozens of casualties.”
As shocking as this story is, however, the key piece of info came from the Independent:
“The court heard da Silva [one of the men] has 24 previous convictions in Ireland, which include offences for theft and possession of knives. He has also been the subject of a deportation order since July 2019, having entered the country on a holiday visa.”
In other words, at least one of these individuals had no reason to be in the country. He could potentially have murdered an Irish citizen and killed or injured many others, despite being “deported” the year before.
And there are many more such examples like this, of people committing crimes in Ireland while either under a deportation order, or waiting for an asylum application.
And so, with that in mind, it’s worth noting the UK government’s newly proposed immigration and deportation policy.
This week, The Times reported how UK deputy prime minister Dominic Raab is moving to make it easier to deport foreign criminals and illegal immigrants from Britain.
The proposal involves an overhaul of the UK’s Human Rights Act, and, according to the Times, will “restrict the ability of offenders who are foreign citizens to fight deportation on the basis that it would breach their right to a family life.”
Raab claims that, in one instance, a foreign man was convicted of battery against his partner. However, the man dodged deportation by claiming that it would be a breach of his “right to family life” to eject him from the country, and this right is protected in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
This was far from an isolated incident, mind you – as reported by the Times:
“Last month a murderer, a kidnapper and several paedophiles were among 47 foreign criminals and overstayers who were removed from a deportation flight to Jamaica after last-minute appeals based on human rights.”
Criminals constantly avoid deportation in Britain on spurious “human rights” claims such as this, it seems.
So with that said, what is the solution?
Well, the UK government has a simple answer:
“A new bill of rights will “tip the balance back in favour of public safety,” officials say, which will lower the threshold of the type of offence that would result in an automatic deportation.
Britain will remain signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) but the new bill of rights will override the Human Rights Act, which enshrined the convention in British law in 1998.”
Really, the most astonishing thing about this move is how straightforward it is, and the fact that it wasn’t done sooner.
Of course, no sane person would suggest for one moment that all, or even most migrants are criminals. In fact, for what it’s worth, I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone seriously make that claim in a debate. It’s obvious to everyone that a large majority of migrants who enter Western countries tend to be very normal people who want the same things as you and I – job security, opportunities, a safe place to live, etcetera.
That goes without saying – to bring it up is almost boring it’s such a given. We’re all on the same page here.
But when you do happen upon someone who is guilty of heinous crimes, be they a citizen, a legal migrant, or an illegal immigrant, it shouldn’t be controversial to want to eject that person from society for all of our sakes. I don’t know anyone, Irish or foreign-born, that wants to live in a society full of violent crime – duh.
What’s more, Ireland has persisted for a long time now with the absurd policy of asking people to “self-deport,” and not employing exit checks to verify if they have or not. There are people walking around in the country right now who have officially been “deported” for years.
It’s a bit like asking someone to escort themselves to prison – as in, it’s a joke.
When discussing this issue, people will often say something to the effect of “But there are native Irish criminals too!” to which the only sensible reply is “Yes of course – and?”
This “whataboutism” does little to weaken the case for deportation of crooks. If anything, all it does is show we have a problem with crime across the board in this country, and we shouldn’t be adding to it. It’s totally reasonable to want Irish and foreign-born criminal elements off the streets – the two are not mutually exclusive.
If only Ireland had a government that was willing to employ sane migration and deportation policies like the UK do. Alas, all we can do now is look longingly and wish our neighbours the best of luck as they endeavour to defend the integrity of their State.