UK threatens visa ban on all Eritreans in row over return of failed asylum seekers

Britain's Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has threatened to stop issuing visas to all citizens of Eritrea unless the East African country agrees to take back its nationals who have no right to stay in the UK, according to reports on Wednesday, October 14, 2026. As a first step, the government is curbing privileges for Eritrean officials: from Thursday, October 15, Eritrean diplomats will not be allowed to travel more than 60 km outside London without permission, and fast-track visas for Eritrean VIPs have been stopped. The Home Office says Eritrea "abruptly" withdrew co-operation on returns earlier this year and has repeatedly refused to issue travel documents for its nationals ordered to leave the UK. Mahmood said other countries could face similar steps.

The row is a test of a tougher approach the British government has adopted on migration: using visa access as leverage to make countries take back their own nationals. The UK cannot deport someone whose home country refuses to accept them or issue papers, so people whose asylum claims fail can remain in Britain for years. Ministers argue that linking visas to returns gives the UK a tool to break that deadlock.

Eritrea is a particularly hard case. Its nationals are among the most common arrivals on small boats across the English Channel, and those whose claims fail are very rarely removed: the reported figure of 106 removals out of 2,626 rejected claims in four years shows how little the current arrangements achieve. The government is betting that pressure on Eritrea's elite, through diplomats' travel and VIP visas first, will force a change.

Previous cases suggest the tactic can work. Visa curbs on the Democratic Republic of the Congo were later lifted after co-operation improved, and Angola and Namibia agreed return arrangements before measures took effect. But there is no guarantee Eritrea will respond the same way. A full ban would also hit ordinary Eritreans seeking to visit family, study or work, which critics are likely to point out.

For other countries, including India, the episode shows how the UK is increasingly tying visa access to co-operation on returns, a link Mahmood said could be applied to other countries too.

Short-term: Eritrean officials face immediate restrictions, and the threat of a wider ban hangs over ordinary travellers, students and workers from Eritrea. Asmara's response will decide whether the UK moves to a full ban.

Long-term: If Eritrea agrees to returns, the UK will present it as proof that visa leverage works and may use it with other countries. If it does not, a full ban could become a precedent for even tougher measures.

Who is affected: Eritrean nationals in the UK and those hoping to visit, study or work there; Eritrean diplomats; failed asylum seekers awaiting removal; and other countries that the UK says are slow to accept returns.

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