MOSCOW, Aug 9: The United Kingdom faces an influx of migrants living illegally in Ireland due to plans by the nationalist group New Irish Republican Army (New IRA) to force them out of the Republic, the Daily Mail reported citing a source in the intelligence services.
According to the newspaper, the group is planning a campaign of violence aimed at forcing illegal migrants in Ireland to leave the Republic.
There are concerns that the New IRA campaign could trigger a new wave of migrants from Ireland to the UK, particularly across the land border with Northern Ireland, the newspaper said.
It is specified that the group's supporters intend to issue an ultimatum not to politicians, but to immigrants illegally arriving in the country.
A source told the newspaper that the group had become active this year, carrying out a series of attacks on police in Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom.
In 1921, Ireland was divided into two parts. The smaller, northern part (Ulster), populated primarily by descendants of immigrants from England and Scotland, remained part of the United Kingdom, while the rest became a British dominion.
Since then, armed conflict has been virtually constant between unionists and republicans - supporters of London and independence, respectively. The Irish Republican Army and its subsequent splinter organisations, the Real IRA and the Provisional IRA, carried out numerous terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom in the 1970s and 1980s, seeking the annexation of Ulster to the Republic of Ireland. In 2012, the Real IRA merged with several other cells to form the New IRA.
The IRA's terrorist and extremist activity declined after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, which began the process of political settlement in the rebellious province.
(UNI)
