Eritrea dismisses UK visa ban threat as 'political gimmick' after row with Home Secretary over migrant returns
Shabana Mahmood, who warned Eritrea it faces a complete visa ban unless it accepts the return of its nationals arriving by small boat.An overcrowded inflatable dinghy on the English Channel, of the kind used by migrants crossing from France — Eritreans made up 18% of all small boat arrivals in the year to June, the single largest nationality.
Eritrea has hit back at Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's warning that all its citizens could lose the right to enter the UK unless the country begins accepting the return of its criminals and failed asylum seekers. Close to 5,900 Eritreans made illegal Channel crossings in the year to June, placing them top among nationalities arriving by small boat. Eritrean diplomats have already lost their fast-track visa privileges and must now obtain Foreign Office clearance before venturing more than 37 miles from London.
Eritrea's UK embassy dismissed the threat as a "perfunctory political gimmick", arguing that no visa had been granted to an Eritrean official since 2023.
Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo all caved after similar pressure in 2025, allowing more than 3,000 of their nationals to be removed from the UK.
