UK immigration rules ‘deny’ NI-born Irish citizens access to EU rights

The UK government is under pressure to clarify immigration rules that human rights activists say undermine the rights of Northern Ireland-born Irish citizens under the Belfast Agreement. Les Allamby, chief commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, said changes in UK immigration laws treating people in Northern Ireland automatically as British citizens (or British subjects) “goes against the grain” of the 1998 agreement underpinning the Northern Irish peace process. He was referring to the changes to immigration rules published on March 7th but highlighted this week by citizens’ rights campaigner Emma DeSouza, a Northern Ireland-born Irish citizen embroiled in a lengthy appeals process after her US-born husband’s application for residence was rejected.