Colin Harvey

Immigration rights campaigner Emma DeSouza is currently fighting to bring her husband to Northern Ireland as the family member of an EEA national living in the UK.

Her husband applied to live in Northern Ireland in 2015 but was refused on the basis that Mrs DeSouza was a dual British-Irish national because she was born in Northern Ireland and therefore should be treated as a British national, not as an EEA national.

She has argued, however, that this comes into conflict with the Good Friday Agreement (GFA), which sets out “the birthright of all the people of Northern Ireland to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish or British or both, as they may so choose”.

Mrs DeSouza’s husband successfully challenged the decision on the basis of her rights under the GFA, but the Home Office is in the process of appealing.

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) has called on the UK Government to launch a review of citizenship issues “as quickly as possible in order to resolve questions of family reunion in Emma DeSouza and other cases”.

A rally headlined “#WeAreIrishtoo” is set to take place outside Belfast City Hall next Saturday 20 April at 12 noon.

Speaking to Irish Legal News ahead of the rally, Professor Harvey said: “I am pleased to be support Emma’s campaign. She has shown great courage and leadership in highlighting a serious GFA implementation gap.

“At this challenging time, it is vital that people stand together in support of the Agreement and all its guarantees. There is a rights and equality crisis in this society that must be faced and addressed as a matter of urgency.”