The row between Britain and Ireland over Rwanda is bordering on farce

Asylum seekers seeking to avoid deportation to Rwanda by fleeing across the water could be condemned to haunt the border villages of Ulster like bewildered ghosts. It’s a shameful, unsustainable situation, writes Sean O’Grady

We shouldn’t play ping pong with people’s lives (AFP via Getty Images)

Were there not so many traumatic experiences involved, the row between the British and Irish governments about asylum seekers would have a comically farcical aspect to it.

Apparently, some of those seeking asylum are now so terrified about the prospect of being bundled on a plane to Rwanda with their pleas for mercy not even heard that they’ve moved to Ireland. I didn’t mean that to sound unkind to Ireland, by the way; but it’s merely the latest indicator that the Rwanda plan is far from the answer to the migration crisis that it’s claimed to be.

In any case, the Irish aren’t happy about it. How many are involved and how true this version of the story actually is hasn’t properly been verified; but it is sufficiently accurate to have made the Irish prime minister propose making laws to stop it and threaten to send these unfortunate people back to the UK.