Migrant workers may have to carry identity in future

Catriona Loughran • Published 4 Mar 2010 14:13 0 Comments

Share this

Meg Hillier M.P., from the Home Office.

There could be proposals to make some migrants carry identity documents if they intend to cross the border into Northern Ireland from the Republic of Ireland, a Home Office Minister has said.

Meg Hillier MP said she was aware of the illegal immigration problems facing border areas including Fermanagh and hinted there were proposals to restrict movement of some immigrants between the two jurisdictions.

Ms Hillier, who is a parliamentary under secretary of state at the Home Office, made the comments at an immigration debate she attended at Stormont on Friday past. Only those living in the EU Member States are allowed to travel freely to obtain work in another EU country.

Speaking to the Impartial Reporter after the meeting, Ms Hillier said the UK Border Agency works extremely closely with Gardai to ensure a "tight grip" is kept on illegal immigrants moving across the Border in search of work or amnesty.

"We have officers working in conjunction with the Gardai at ports to try and clampdown on illegal immigration and we understand the certain types of problems that affect the land border areas so it's important the two governments work together and stay on top of the game."

She made the comments after three Ukrainian nationals were arrested for working illegally at a factory in Derrylin last month.

They have since been deported.

Ms Hillier said the government will come down on employers "like a tonne of bricks" if they knowingly employ illegal immigrants.

"People who employ illegal immigrants not only face hefty fines in the region of tens of thousands of pounds, they could also face jail. Employing illegal immigrants is very unfair and dishonest on employers who recruit staff with the right to work in the UK and we will continue to come down on any business in Fermanagh and the rest of the UK like a tonne of bricks if they continue to operate an illegal workforce."

Ms Hillier was among a number of ministers who took questions on how immigration issues are affecting Northern Ireland and were joined in the debate by refugee and migrants groups along with education providers, business representatives, faith groups and local councillors.

"What I have taken away with me from this debate is that Northern Ireland has come so far over the years. Never would we have imagined such a debate would have taken place between people from all kinds of nationalities living here and it's a good sign that things have moved on. But what it means now is that Northern Ireland is no different to the rest of the UK with many of the questions similar to the questions I'm hearing elsewhere and we will continue to tackle the immigration we face on a daily basis."

The meeting was chaired by Fermanagh journalist Ferghal McKinney and is part of a series of UK-wide events to discuss problems with immigration.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 04 Mar 10

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our News archives.