Third African country agrees to migrant returns after visa threat
Shabana Mahmood’s threats to impose visa penalties form part of her drive to speed up removals of people with no right to be in the UK.
A third African country has agreed to take back illegal immigrants after the Home Secretary threatened to block visas for its citizens.
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Shabana Mahmood issued the threat to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at the end of December last year over a lack of cooperation on returning foreign offenders and those with no right to be in the UK.
At the same time, she halted preferential treatment for Congolese diplomats and VIPs and ended fast-track visa processing for the country’s citizens.
On Friday, the Home Office announced the DRC had now agreed to cooperate.
Ms Mahmood said: “My message is clear, if foreign governments refuse to accept the return of their citizens, then they will face consequences.”
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The DRC is the third country to reach an agreement with the UK after being threatened with visa penalties.
Angola and Namibia both said they would take back their citizens in December, a month after Ms Mahmood identified them as possible targets for penalties.
At the time, the Home Office accused all three of frustrating attempts to deport their citizens, refusing to process paperwork or giving people an effective veto over their own removal by requiring them to sign their own documents.
The three countries make up only a handful of people detected entering the UK through irregular routes, but the Home Office said the deal would allow up to 3,000 people to be removed from the country.
Ms Mahmood’s threats to impose visa penalties form part of her drive to speed up removals of people with no right to be in the UK as she seeks to demonstrate progress on cutting irregular migration.
Officials said she had been clear that countries that did not cooperate on taking back their citizens could not expect a “normal visa relationship” with Britain.
Earlier, the Home Office said more than 15,000 people had been removed from the UK since the 2024 election, a 45% increase on the previous 19 months, while another 43,000 had left voluntarily after being told they were in the country illegally.
Ms Mahmood vowed to “scale up” removals even further as the Government faces ongoing pressure on immigration and small boat crossings continue in the Channel.
Some 65,000 people have entered the country via small boats since the 2024 election, including 989 so far this year.