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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Ryan Smith

Translink bus checks are "discriminatory" claims group

A complaint has been made against Translink over claims it is “facilitating discriminatory passport checks”.

The Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) claims that checks on cross-border buses by the PSNI and An Garda Siochana are “contrary to UK and Irish law”.

They said that the complaint has been made on behalf of 17 directly affected passengers.

Úna Boyd, CAJ’s Immigration Project Coordinator, said: "It seems that the hard border already exists for those who are targeted due to factors such as their skin colour or accent.

"The facilitation of passport controls on the island of Ireland also aids in introducing an element of a hard border at a time when a ‘no-deal’ Brexit seems possible and such a subject is a matter of extreme concern to many people.

"Initially when we enquired about this policy, Translink told us they were ‘obliged’ to facilitate the boarding of their buses for such passport checks.

"However, when we asked Translink what these legal obligations were, they were unable to answer. It appears they now know there is no proper legal basis for such checks, or are still to check, long after the policy has been adopted."

A Translink spokesperson said: “We comply with law enforcement agencies requests to board our vehicles.

“As stipulated within our Equality Scheme, we will provide a response to the complainant within 30 days.”

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