Britain Threatens to Close Borders to Eritrea if it Doesn’t Take Back Criminal Migrants
The British government has said it would stop Eritreans from coming to the country unless its government started cooperating on the return of Eritrean citizen criminals from the UK, in a development that follows by just days a campaign promise by Reform UK’s Nigel Farage to go even further to punish nations that refuse to take their criminals back.
Britain’s Labour Home Secretary (interior minister) Shabana Mahmood has said after the Eritrean government “refused” to engage in talks over taking back rejected asylum seekers and criminals, unless it changes course now the UK would ban Eritreans visiting the country at all.
Eritreans are one of the largest single groups of boat migrants coming to England’s southern shores, however given the war-torn status of the country they are also one of the nationalities most likely to get a successful asylum application decision from the British government. Nevertheless, a handful are turned down, with around 2,600 failed asylum seekers in the past four years, who in most cases should be deported back home, except the Eritrean government has refused to engage with the process.
Of that 2,600, only around 100 have been successfully deported, leaving a massive backlog pending removal, without even counting Eritrean migrant criminals to be deported.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said in a government statement:
Eritrea has had every chance to accept the return of criminals and those with no right to be in the UK. Unlike other countries, it has refused.
My message to the Eritrean government is simple: take back your nationals or face a complete ban on your citizens entering the UK. I will not hesitate to impose further measures on other countries refusing to co-operate.
Beyond banning Eritrean travellers entering the UK, The Daily Telegraph reports Eritrean VIPs have already had their preferential visa arrangements cancelled, and Eritrean diplomats living in Britain have been banned from leaving London without government permission. It is stated similar threats have been used against other uncooperative nations in the recent past including Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and that all those states on reflection decided to start cooperating.
While deporting unwanted migrants, criminal arrivals, and failed asylum seekers remains important, it is a slow and frustrating process for many nationalities. Mahmood’s visa block threat follows by days an announcement of an even wider-reaching policy from opposition leader Nigel Farage, who has warned he will punish foreign countries who refuse to take back their criminals if he is elected Prime Minister.
As reported, Mr Farage said in order to hit his pledge of deporting all illegal migrants he would “not tolerate countries who won’t take back illegal migrants”, adding “Illegal immigration is an out-of-control disaster that poses a massive threat to our national security. It’s only getting worse under Open Borders Burnham. Only Reform will deport every single illegal migrant on our shores and stop the boats”.
He said he would launch visa bans, block airlines from even travelling between Britain and problem states, and impose tariffs. Farage added to those comments this week when he vowed to shut down Britain’s asylum system altogether for up to five years to give the country breathing room, to get on top of who is actually on British soil. Speaking of the infliction of migrant crime on British communities, Mr Farage told a press conference given before an enormous migrant boat: “We know the statistics, we know the greater likelihood of people from Afghanistan to commit sexual assault than people born in Britain. These are cultural issues”.
