Three African countries have agreed to take back foreign criminals and illegal migrants after the Home Secretary threatened to impose visa restrictions.
Shabana Mahmood threatened to revoke fast-track visa processing and halt preferential visa treatment for diplomats and VIPs from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola and Namibia after they failed to agree new measures to make it easier to take back illegal migrants from UK.
Last month, Namibia and Angola agreed to cooperate with the Home Office and now Ms Mahmood has secured a deal with the DRC.
The three countries had previously been singled out for having ‘unacceptably poor and obstructive returns processes’ and warned of sanctions if they did not improve their processes.
They were also accused them of refusing to process paperwork and requiring individuals to sign their own documents – effectively allowing them to block their own deportations.
‘My message is clear, if foreign governments refuse to accept the return of their citizens, then they will face consequences,’ Ms Mahmood said following the agreement.
However, despite today’s agreement just 3,000 people from the African countries could be eligible to be removed or deported.
And the countries are not among the most common nationalities of migrants to enter the UK legally or illegally.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has secured deals with three African countries after the Home Office threatened to impose visa restrictions
Migrants from the Gambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo land on the Greek island of Lesbos in February 2020 as they cross from Africa into Europe
They accounted for a tiny proportion of the more than 800,000 visas granted for employment, study, family or humanitarian reasons in the year to June – 299 to those from the Democratic Republic of Congo, 273 for nationals from Angola and 140 for those from Namibia.
And they made up only a handful of the illegal migrants recorded as having entered the UK through so-called ‘irregular’ routes in that timeframe, with only 11 coming from the DRC, three from Angola and none from Namibia.
A Government source told the Daily Mail in December that the Home Secretary ‘won’t hesitate to go further and ban visas to other countries who refuse to take their citizens back’.
BBC News reported that India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Somalia and Gabon are all resistant to returns deals and it is possible that the government could look at sanctions for those countries.
The new penalties for uncooperative countries were announced in November last year.
Penalties included an ’emergency brake’ on visas for countries with high asylum claims until they take back citizens in the UK illegally.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper previously told British diplomats to take a more transactional approach to illegal migration as part of efforts to speed up returns.
She said: ‘I have instructed our diplomatic network around the world to make returns a top priority, and today’s announcement shows that when countries work with us, we can achieve more rapid results.
‘People who come to the UK illegally, overstay their visas, or commit crimes in our country should expect to be returned, and we will continue to demand the cooperation of their governments in that process.’
Since Labour entered government in July 2024, nearly 50,000 people have been deported from the UK and more than 7,000 foreign national offenders have been returned.
