UK threatens Eritrea with blanket visa ban over migrant returns

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has threatened to block all UK visas for Eritreans unless their government rapidly agrees to take back nationals with no right to remain in Britain. The blanket ban is a conditional threat, not a measure announced as taking effect. The Home Office said it was ending preferential visa processing for Eritrean VIPs and government officials from 15 October. Eritrean diplomats must also seek Foreign Office permission to travel more than 60km beyond London. [1]

Mahmood said Eritrea had abruptly withdrawn its co-operation on returns earlier this year. “Eritrea has had every chance to accept the return of criminals and those with no right to be in the UK. Unlike other countries, it has refused,” she said. [1] Eritrea’s embassy disputed the British account. In a statement quoted by LBC, it said it opposed forced returns and had repeatedly sought talks about the dignified return of its citizens. It also alleged that Britain had described some returns as voluntary when they were not. The Home Office told the BBC that the embassy’s comments misrepresented its position. [3] [2]

The embassy called the visa measures a “perfunctory political gimmick”, saying no UK visa had been issued to an Eritrean official since 2023. The Home Office disputed that claim and cited an exemption from immigration control granted to an Eritrean official in August 2026, the BBC reported. That description does not establish whether a visa was issued. [3] [2]

Eritreans were the largest nationality among small-boat arrivals in the year to June 2026: 5,875 people, about 18% of arrivals whose nationality was recorded. [4] But arrivals are not a count of people eligible for return. In the same period, 84% of Eritrean main asylum applicants who received an initial substantive decision were granted protection or other permission to stay. Those decisions concern a different group from that year’s boat arrivals, and appeals can change outcomes. [5] Only seven Eritreans were returned to Eritrea during those 12 months, while a further 244 were returned to other countries, according to Home Office figures reported by the BBC. [2]