Omanghana
UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has threatened to halt visa access for Eritrean nationals unless their government resumes cooperation on the return of people whose asylum claims have been rejected and foreign offenders facing removal.
The warning, issued on October 15, 2026, follows what the Home Office described as Eritrea’s withdrawal from a limited returns arrangement that operated from 2024 until March 2026.
Britain has already introduced restrictions on Eritrean officials as it seeks to secure a new agreement. Diplomats based in the UK must now obtain Foreign Office permission before travelling more than 60 kilometers outside London, while government officials and other VIPs have lost access to fast-track visa processing.
A wider visa ban remains a threatened measure and has not yet been imposed on ordinary Eritrean applicants.
The Home Office cited low removal rates and the number of Eritreans arriving across the English Channel as reasons for escalating pressure. According to the figures provided, more than 5,800 Eritreans arrived by small boat in the year ending June 2026, representing roughly 18 per cent of crossings.
Officials said fewer than four per cent of the 2,626 Eritreans whose asylum applications were rejected over the past four years had been removed. Only seven people were returned directly to Eritrea in the year to June 2026.
The Eritrean Embassy in London rejected Mahmood’s approach, describing the ultimatum as a “perfunctory political gimmick” and accusing Britain of failing to pursue meaningful dialogue.
The embassy also alleged that British authorities had sought to return convicted offenders who were still serving prison sentences without adequately disclosing their circumstances. It further disputed the description of some proposed removals as voluntary. These allegations form part of Eritrea’s response to the dispute.
The confrontation reflects the UK government’s wider use of visa restrictions to encourage cooperation on migrant returns. Similar pressure has previously been applied to Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with returns arrangements subsequently negotiated.
The Home Office has warned that other countries resisting cooperation could also face visa penalties.
However, migration specialists have questioned how much the measures would change removal numbers. Dr Madeleine Sumption of the University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory noted that 84 per cent of Eritrean asylum applicants receive protection at the initial decision stage because of conditions in their home country.
That high recognition rate means most Eritrean asylum applicants are granted permission to remain, limiting the number who could be affected by any renewed returns agreement.
Source: Omanghana
