Immigration has become a flashpoint in the Republic of Ireland, with the government attributing a surge in asylum seekers to the threat of deportation to Rwanda. Over 80% of asylum seekers now enter via the land border with Northern Ireland, though the Irish Refugee Council and advocacy groups have questioned this figure.
On Monday, a Belfast judge ruled that large parts of the UK's Illegal Migration Act should not apply in Northern Ireland due to human rights breaches. The UK government has announced it will appeal the ruling.
The housing crisis, along with social and economic inequalities, has fuelled anti-immigrant sentiment, according to Guardian Ireland correspondent Rory Carroll. In November, a stabbing in Dublin sparked riots after social media falsely identified the attacker as a foreigner; he was actually a naturalised Irish citizen from Algeria. Hundreds rampaged through central Dublin, targeting property and police.
Leon Diop, co-founder of Black & Irish, called the riots a watershed moment, saying racism has become “supercharged.” He noted incidents where people in Ireland have been killed for not speaking English.
