Belfast's High Court delivered a significant ruling today, declaring that certain aspects of the United Kingdom's primary immigration policy are inapplicable in Northern Ireland,

as they contravene human rights protections enshrined in post-Brexit agreements.

The Illegal Migration Act, enacted last year, dictates that individuals arriving in the UK unlawfully are ineligible to seek asylum, instead facing deportation to their country of origin or to a designated "safe third country" like Rwanda.

Judge Michael Humphreys, in his ruling, determined that several provisions of the law, including the removal of asylum seekers, minors, and victims of human trafficking without due assessment, are unlawful within Northern Ireland.

Sinead Marmion, legal counsel representing one of the petitioners, a 16-year-old asylum seeker from Iran who arrived in the UK via boat last year, hailed the decision as a safeguard against the government's ability to expel such individuals from Northern Ireland.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak affirmed his administration's commitment to defending its stance, signaling a potential appeal.

"I have consistently maintained that the provisions of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement should be construed as originally intended, without expansion to encompass issues such as illegal migration," Sunak stated.

The petitioners, which included the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, argued that critical components of the legislation clashed with the post-Brexit Windsor Framework, jointly established last year by London and Brussels.

The accord pledged to uphold the full spectrum of human rights safeguarded under Northern Ireland's 1998 Good Friday peace agreement following the UK's departure from the European Union.

The immigration law lies at the core of Sunak's commitment to curbing asylum seekers' perilous journeys across the English Channel from France to England's southern coast, often aboard small, unseaworthy vessels. Photo by Bjørn Erik Pedersen, Wikimedia commons.