MIGRATION

Government to set up new border detention camps for asylum seekers under landmark pact

Those who arrive from safe countries or without valid documents will ‘not be authorised to enter Ireland’ and will processed at an accelerated rate in designated centres

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, praises new pact for allowing Europeans to control immigration and combat smugglers Picture: Getty

The government is to set up new border detention centres to house and rapidly process international protection applicants, as part of a landmark migration pact Ireland has signed up to.

Thousands of applicants are likely to find themselves held in the new centres under strict new rules which are due to come into effect in Ireland from 2026.

The measures are part of the EU Migration and Asylum Pact, which Helen McEntee, the justice minister, ...