简体中文
With nothing to mark the point where one country ends and another begins, there is little sign of the border between the United Kingdom and Ireland, a frontier that was once controlled by military checkpoints.
At the Diamond Bakery and Tearoom in Aughnacloy, customers can pay in British pounds or the euros used in Ireland, and visitors often ask the staff members which country they are in.
Glenn Robinson, who owns a nearby computer business, said that he had made two journeys into Ireland that day, and that one of his employees commutes to work from there. “You don’t see it as a border,” he added.
Yet this least intrusive of frontiers could become a lot more visible if Britain votes next week to leave the European Union, quitting a 28-nation bloc in which its neighbor, Ireland, will remain.
Customs posts could spring up again, as could some form of immigration controls to prevent migrants from using Northern Ireland as a backdoor route to the rest of Britain. And the possibility of a “hard” border with Ireland is just one of the issues thrown up for Britain’s regions by the vote on Thursday.
Polls suggest that voters in Scotland and Northern Ireland are likely to favor remaining in the European Union, while their English counterparts appear to be leaning in favor of leaving. (Views in Wales are thought to be consistent with those in England.)
Yet the Scots and the Northern Irish could find themselves unwillingly outside the European Union if their votes are outweighed by those of the more numerous English.
Indonesia towing boat full of Sri Lankan refugees back out to sea after refusing permission to land
Authorities in the Indonesian province of Aceh are preparing to tow a boat with more than 40 Tamil men, women and children out to sea Friday after rescuing it last weekend.
The 44 migrants, who include many women and children, have been stuck on the Indian-flagged vessel resting in shallow waters off Aceh since last Saturday after it broke down en route to Australia.
It would be the second time in the past week that officials have attempted to remove the vessel from Indonesian waters after it suffered engine trouble and was discovered stranded on Saturday.
The migrants have been at sea for about a month and were trying to reach the Australian territory of Christmas Island.
The province is refusing to let the migrants, which include nine children and a pregnant woman, land despite Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla asking them to provide shelter. On Thursday, six women tried to leave the boat as it rested in shallow waters but police fired warning shots.
Asylum seekers land in Indonesia after Australian turn-back
“We did not allow them to land because Indonesia is not their destination and they are fit,” said Frans Delian, a spokesman for the Aceh government. “We advised them to not continue their journey to Australia but back to their country.”
Immigration officials said the people were originally from Sri Lanka. Delian said their situation is different from stateless Rohingya boat people who were helped by Indonesian authorities last year after fleeing persecution in Myanmar. Southeast Asian nations including Indonesia were reluctant to help until facing international pressure over the plight of Rohingya adrift at sea with minimal supplies of food or water.
Sri Lanka rescues Australia-bound illegal immigrants.
The International Organisation for Migration has had a team at the site since last weekend including a translator and medical personnel and is prepared to provide temporary accommodation. However they have been denied access to the migrants.
Aceh police chief Maj. Gen. Husein Hamidi said the Tamil migrants have been given food, water and fuel. The boat is beached and heavy machinery was used to try and refloat it while all the migrants were still on board.
The vessel was first towed back into international waters on Sunday after repairs were made to its engine. It returned on Monday and the migrants asked for additional fuel.
(AP)
