UK threatens to ban entry to Eritrean citizens — The Guardian
The United Kingdom may ban Eritrean citizens from entering the country if the authorities of the East African nation do not agree to take back people who have been denied asylum in the UK, as well as criminals. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said this, The Guardian reports.
Visa restrictions for officials
According to Mahmood, senior Eritrean officials and civil servants have already been stripped of fast-track access to British visas. According to the UK Home Office, Eritrea abruptly stopped cooperating on the return of its citizens earlier this year.
Mahmood said that Eritrea had the opportunity to take back criminals and people who have no right to remain in the UK, but refused to do so. She warned the country's government of a possible full ban on its citizens entering the United Kingdom.
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Statistics on returns and asylum applications
Over the past four years, just over 100 rejected asylum seekers from Eritrea have been deported from the UK out of 2,626 people whose applications were rejected. This amounts to less than 4%. In the year to June 2026, nearly 6,000 Eritreans arrived in Britain via the English Channel, the highest number among all nationalities.
Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said that Eritreans had submitted approximately 7,000 asylum applications, or about 8% of their total number. Around 84% of such applications are approved at the initial stage, while some others may be granted after appeal. Organizations working with refugees warned the UK against rejecting applicants from Eritrea, citing conflict and famine in the country.
Britain had previously threatened visa sanctions against Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Angola and Namibia subsequently agreed to cooperate on the return of migrants, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo reached an agreement with London after visa restrictions were introduced. Mahmood also named India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Somalia, Egypt and Gabon among countries that could face similar measures.
