Irish border will be open door to EU citizens

European Union citizens will be able to enter Britain by crossing the unmanned Irish border after Brexit, the Government has admitted, raising fears of a back door for migrants. A Whitehall blueprint put forward a vision of a free-flowing and unmonitored Irish border post-brexit.

EUROPEAN Union citizens will be able to enter Britain by crossing the unmanned Irish border after Brexit, the Government has admitted.

A Whitehall blueprint about the relationship with Ireland made clear that Britain will effectively outsource border checks in Northern Ireland to the Irish government. The news will raise fears of a back door for migrants after Britain quits the EU in March 2019.

Details of the plans were set out in a 28-page paper published by the Department for Exiting the European Union yesterday. The Government put forward a vision of a free-flowing and unmonitored Irish border post-brexit, with the majority of local businesses avoiding customs tariffs.

There had been an expectation that the Government would seek to use technology to monitor major crossings along the 300-mile frontier.

Theresa May said: “As we look forward to Brexit, of course, we do want to ensure that we don’t see a return to the borders of the past, we don’t see a return to a hard border, and that we are able to ensure that the crucial flow of goods and people between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is able to continue in the future.”

The paper makes clear that the Government will treat the British Isles as one common travel area after Brexit and not vet those who cross from Ireland – in the EU – into the UK. British immigration officials will rely on guards at Ireland’s border to carry out security checks on immigrants from the EU. It says: “When considering the nature of the Common Travel Area as a border-free zone, it is important to note that immigration controls are not, and never have been, solely about the ability to prevent and control entry at the UK’S physical border.”

Officials at the Department for Exiting the EU defended the decision.

One said: “We were never coming up with proposals that would require you to put immigration posts between Northern Ireland and Ireland, or Ireland and GB.” There were implications too for non-eu citizens as South Africans require a visa to enter the UK but

‘We were never going to put immigration posts between Northern Ireland and Ireland, or Ireland and GB’

not to go to the Irish republic. Britain will rely on computers to exchange security information about migrants while non-britons, except for Irish citizens, will not be able to work in Britain without a visa. The Government is due to unveil further details about its immigration policy in the autumn.

Simon Coveney, the Irish foreign minister, said the paper was “timely and helpful” but said “significant questions” still remain.

He made clear Ireland would be pressing hard for an outcome that suited its citizens, adding: “We won’t be picking fights for the sake of it but we will be firm and clear in terms of what we regard is important and essential for Ireland to support a future deal.”