What the data does and doesn't tell us about asylum seekers in Northern Ireland

Police successful Northern Ireland accidental a exile charged with the attempted execution of a antheral successful Belfast connected Monday evening initially entered the state by crossing the borderline with the Republic of Ireland.

Sudanese nationalist Hadi Alodid travelled from Dublin to Belfast successful 2023 and was granted exile presumption the aforesaid year.

He was capable to transverse the Irish borderline without documents due to the fact that determination are nary regular migration checks there.

This is owed to the UK and Republic of Ireland being portion of the Common Travel Area (CTA) which allows for passport-free question by its citizens.

But the unfastened quality of the borderline means determination is small publically disposable information showing precisely however galore radical are claiming asylum successful Northern Ireland having arrived via the CTA.

The CTA is an statement dating backmost to 1922 erstwhile 26 of Ireland's 32 counties were granted a ample grade of independency by the UK. It gives British and Irish citizens reciprocal rights successful each others' countries.

Those rights see mostly unrestricted, passport-free question betwixt the UK, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man for British and Irish citizens.

People from different countries request to amusement a passport - and successful immoderate cases a visa - to participate the UK, Republic of Ireland and Crown Dependencies. It is unclear how Alodid passed borderline checks astatine Dublin Airport aft arriving from Paris.

Without much ceremonial controls the Irish borderline is simply a comparatively unfastened migration route. It is policed nether "Operation Gull", a long-running, intelligence-led inaugural operated by the UK Home Office, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Police Scotland, and Ireland's constabulary force, the Garda Síochána.

If idiosyncratic is recovered without the close documents to beryllium successful the CTA they tin beryllium detained nether UK migration powers and returned to the Republic of Ireland.

However if that idiosyncratic was to assertion asylum past they cannot beryllium deported and would beryllium entered into the UK asylum strategy portion their assertion is evaluated.

What bash we cognize astir the fig of asylum seekers successful Northern Ireland?

Home Office figures amusement determination were 2,379 asylum seekers receiving asylum enactment successful Northern Ireland arsenic of March 2026. These individuals would request to person claimed asylum successful Northern Ireland to person enactment there.

This is the lowest fig of radical erstwhile compared with the different UK nations and English regions and is astir mean erstwhile adjusted for population.

These figures bash not see asylum seekers who are supporting themselves financially.

Belfast hosts the largest fig of asylum seekers, which - erstwhile adjusted for colonisation - is the 10th highest successful the UK, according to figures from 363 section authorities, with astir 1 asylum seeker for each 200 residents.

The bulk of those 1,607 radical are housed successful self-catered asylum accommodation specified arsenic houses of aggregate occupancy (HMO). There are nary asylum seekers successful hotels successful Belfast.

We besides know, from authorities data, that 7,740 radical arrived successful the UK and claimed asylum done "other" routes which see the CTA. Róise McCann, a probe serviceman with Law Centre NI, said the information does not separate which different routes autumn into this category.

The 7,740 fig is besides for the full of the UK and is not breached down into its nations and regions. It does not archer america precisely however galore radical claimed asylum successful Northern Ireland aft arriving from elsewhere successful the CTA.

There is besides immoderate grounds from the Republic of Ireland of question successful the different direction.

In September 2025, Irish Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan told a committee that asylum exertion figures suggested "the overwhelming bulk of people" claiming planetary extortion successful the twelvemonth truthful acold had arrived implicit the borderline with Northern Ireland.

However, this is not based connected a nonstop number of onshore borderline crossings, but connected the acquisition of unit and others moving successful the tract and worldly gathered astatine interviews, according to the website FactCheckNI.