The Joint Committee of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has issued a policy statement regarding the UK withdrawal from the European Union in which it expresses its concerns with regards to the protection of human rights within Ireland in the aftermath of Brexit.
The 1998 Good Friday Agreement was constructed under the common assumption that both Ireland and the UK would be cooperating as fellow EU members, with the Union being constantly referenced throughout the provisions of the Agreement regarding human rights and equality. Britain leaving the EU has subsequently threatened the effective functioning of the Good Friday Agreement and the protection of human rights as granted under EU law.
The Joint Committee has issued six requirements addressed to the British and Irish governments which it recommends be included in the final Withdrawal Agreement in order to protect the Good Friday Agreement to continue towards a peaceful and lasting resolution to the conflict in Northern Ireland.
Firstly, the Joint Committee is calling for a commitment to ‘no diminution of rights’ on the island of Ireland. This includes a clear and enforceable commitment within the final Withdrawal Agreement to the non-diminution of human rights and equality in addition to the retention of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU under UK law among other measures.
The Joint Committee seeks for the Withdrawal Agreement to provide for the safeguarding of North-South equivalence of rights as established under the Good Friday Agreement. There is a risk that this equivalent protection may be effected by Brexit perhaps in the event of either the EU or the UK adopting different standards with regards to human rights. The Committee therefore recommends that Northern Ireland remains within the EU human rights and equality legislative framework in order to maintain this equivalence.
The Committee supports the proposal of continued EU citizenship for Irish citizens within Northern Ireland but believes that this should be extended to all the people of Northern Ireland. The Joint Committee maintains that everyone in the North should be able to choose to identify as they wish without consequences caused by UK withdrawal so as to avoid division and unfair distinctions.
The Joint Committee is also emphasising the importance of protecting border communities and migrant workers. While welcoming the UK’s commitments to the avoidance of a hard border, it is seeking further guarantees that any change in border controls would not result in the loss of rights for communities either side of the border. The Joint Committee is also hoping that the UK and EU will cooperate in relation to immigration control.
The Joint Committee is pursuing assurances that evolving justice arrangements comply with any commitment to non-diminution of rights. The EU’s transnational justice arrangements allowed for the UK and other EU member states to cooperate in the prevention of human rights abuses ranging from criminal matters to family law issues. Therefore the Joint Committee is affirming that any future arrangements between the UK and EU must conform to relevant human rights instruments and continued existing rights proctections.
Lastly, the Joint Committee recommends that in addition to having the option of retaining EU citizenship, all the people of Northern Ireland should be allowed to vote in European Parliament elections.
Read the full policy statement here.