Aontú Deputy Leader and Derry East Representative Gemma Brolly has called what is being reported internationally as attempted beheading in North Belfast last night absolutely horrific.
“What happened last night in North Belfast is horrific and our thoughts are with the victim and his family.
It’s important to say one person doesn’t represent every migrant on this island, but it’s clear that authorities who placed the perpetrator here have a responsibility to investigate and be transparent about what they knew about this man.
Lots of politicians are dancing around the issue this morning – and they should, because many of them have shouted down and refused to answer questions about migration into this island.
Aontú has sought facts about the migration situation into the North (and South) and the answers are not comforting.
We have official documents to prove that the Executive Office (run by SF and the DUP) are informed by the British Home Office about the location of asylum contingency accommodation and the broad areas for dispersal accommodation as well as changes to the asylum accommodation estate such as closures of contingency hotels.
When we asked the Executive Office what they knew, they refused to disclose it.
We asked the British Home Office to outline how many people were placed here waiting for asylum applications to be addressed; how many people left their asylum accommodation and didn’t come back; how many people have been deported following committing a crime from airports in the North; how they decide to place people in the North, and they refused to tell us.
People have a right to know who comes to live alongside them, that the authorities have robustly checked who they are and that communities are kept safe. This is not anti-migrant, it’s pro-safety. For those who were born and raised here, the treatment for crimes should be no different.
It is important to note how plenty of migrants come here and make a great contribution to our home.
Our policy is an Irish Sea Border for people. The only way that we can control the movement of people between Britain and the island of Ireland is to ensure that entry and exits are checked with passports.”
Brolly added: “We’ll keep asking questions to try and prevent this happening again”.
