Hike in cross-Border illegal immigrants

THE number of people caught trying to cross the Border illegally from the North is up almost 20% on last year, according to figures.

Police authorities on both sides of the Border yesterday said it was a “significant problem”, but that increased co-operation between the two jurisdictions meant they had good intelligence on the issue.

Law enforcement authorities tasked with immigration control from Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England gathered for the first time at a two-day conference in Dublin yesterday to address various issues, including human trafficking and counter-terrorism.