UK Threatens Eritrea with Complete Visa Ban Over Migrant Returns Standoff
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood issues ultimatum as diplomatic access for Eritrean officials is curtailed amid refusal to accept nationals.
Sarah Connor
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has warned Eritrea that its citizens face a complete UK visa ban.
Eritrean diplomats in the UK already lost fast-track visa access. They now require Foreign Office permission for travel outside London.
The Home Office claims Eritrea abruptly withdrew returns cooperation earlier this year. This reneged on an agreement to take back migrants refused asylum or convicted of crimes in the UK.
Home Office sources indicate diplomats from Asmara refused to engage constructively with Whitehall in private talks about the returns agreement.
Eritreans could be stopped from coming to the UK unless the country agrees to accept more rejected asylum seekers and criminals.
The Home Secretary claims Eritreans could be stopped from coming to the UK unless the country agrees to accept more rejected asylum seekers and criminals.
This strategy has proven effective in the past. Similar sanctions previously led Angola, Namibia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo to agree to accept returned citizens from the UK.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, for instance, faced visa restrictions before reaching an agreement with the UK in February.
Eritreans constituted the second-highest number of asylum seekers in the UK in the year to June 2026, with an 84% approval rate.
Nearly 5,900 Eritreans crossed the English Channel by small boat in the year to June.
The Home Secretary stated that other uncooperative nations could also face targeted visa restrictions for failing to accept migrant returns.
India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Somalia, Egypt, and Gabon have been identified as resistant to taking back illegal migrants and could face sanctions.
Study visas for nationals from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, and Sudan were halted in March, as were work visas for Afghans.
Experts claim the Home Secretary’s threat to ban Eritreans from obtaining UK visas will have little impact on small boat arrivals or asylum claims from the east African country.