As a member of the European Union the Republic of Ireland is party to readmission agreements concluded by the EU with third countries under Article 63(3)(b) of the EC Treaty. These types of agreements would facilitate the removal of third country nationals living in the EU without legal authorisation. In September 2000 the EU Council authorised the Commission to begin negotiating readmission agreements on behalf of the EU with Russia, Morocco, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

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As a member of the European Union the Republic of Ireland is party to readmission agreements concluded by the EU with third countries under Article 63(3)(b) of the EC Treaty. These types of agreements would facilitate the removal of third country nationals living in the EU without legal authorisation. In September 2000 the EU Council authorised the Commission to begin negotiating readmission agreements on behalf of the EU with Russia, Morocco, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Since then readmission agreements have been concluded with Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Macoa, in November 2001, May 2002 and October 2002 respectively. These governments must therefore readmit their nationals from EU states along with other nationals who have illegally entered or stayed on their territory and permit transit to another country if necessary.

Ireland itself has concluded a number of readmission agreements to facilitate and expedite the return of persons residing unlawfully in the country to their country of origin. In May 2000 and August 2001 readmission agreements were concluded with the Romanian and Nigerian governments, the readmission agreement with Romania was the first of its kind to be signed by Ireland. In 2002 the Irish government also signed readmission agreements with Poland and Bulgaria. These readmission agreements allow for the return of persons residing in Ireland without authorisation, this would include rejected asylum seekers. They also provide for the readmission of citizens who arrived in Ireland through the State with which the agreement is concluded. The readmission agreements set out the procedures to be followed in returning individuals and the way in which their nationality would be established, this would usually be through official documents such as passports, identity cards, citizenship certificates, and other official documents setting out the persons citizenship. The assistance of diplomatic and consular officials in the state to which persons ought to be a readmitted may be requested in order to determine the nationality of the person being returned.

There have been discussions on concluding bilateral agreements with Romania to combat illegal immigration, trafficking and organised crime. In December 2002 the Prime Minister of Romania visited Ireland and met with the Prime Minister and President and expressed his commitment to implementing the provisions of the readmission agreement and to co-operating with Ireland to prevent illegal immigration, trafficking and organised crime. At the time of writing no bilateral agreements had been concluded on these issues.

Ireland shares a Common Travel Area with the UK, although this is not formally agreed or set out in legislation it is legally recognised in the Treaty of Amsterdam. This agreement allows UK nationals to travel to Ireland for employment or any other purpose without being subjected to immigration controls at Irish airports and ports. UK nationals may be required to produce passports or identification to prove their nationality to Immigration Officers. The Agreement also involves co-operation on immigration matters, therefore migrants would not be accepted into Ireland if it were their intention to travel onward to the UK.

Analysis provided by: Anisa Niaz LLM (Public Law), United Kingdom.

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