Crackdown 'a cynical bid to swing votes'

THE high-profile crackdown on suspected illegal immigrants is a cynical Government exercise to swing a Yes vote in the upcoming Nice Referendum, refugee campaigners claimed yesterday.

And the mass morning swoops have seriously damaged the good relationship built up by the gardaí with the immigrant community, the critics said.

The comments followed the second installment of Operation Hyphen, which yesterday spread to the rest of the country after last week’s focus on Dublin. Some 101 people were arrested on suspicion of being illegal immigrants or undocumented asylum seekers, while nine were detained for flouting deportation orders.