UK visa sanctions force Angola, Namibia to accept returned migrants
The agreements mark the first major change under reforms announced last month, which aim to make refugee status temporary.
Angola and Namibia have agreed to accept the return of irregular migrants and criminals after the British government threatened visa penalties for countries refusing to cooperate, the UK Home Office said.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been stripped of fast-track visa services and preferential treatment for VIPs and decision-makers after failing to meet Britain's requirements to improve cooperation, the Home Office said late on Saturday.
.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said Britain could escalate measures to a complete halting of visas for the DRC unless "co-operation rapidly improves".
"We expect countries to play by the rules. If one of their citizens has no right to be here, they must take them back," the Home Secretary added.
The agreements mark the first major change under reforms announced last month, which aim to make refugee status temporary and expedite the deportation of those who arrive in Britain.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the UK has "removed more than 50,000 people with no right to remain" since July last year, a 23 percent increase on the previous period.
He instructed diplomats to make returns a top priority.
Asylum claims
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, elected last summer, is under pressure to stop migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats from France, something that also troubled his Conservative predecessors.
More than 39,000 people, many fleeing conflict, have arrived this year following such dangerous journeys, more than for the whole of 2024 but lower than the record set in 2022.
Asylum claims in Britain are at a record high, with some 111,000 applications made in the year to June 2025, according to official figures.
More than 100 British charities wrote to Mahmood, urging her to "end the scapegoating of migrants and performative policies that only cause harm”, saying such steps are fuelling racism and violence.
Polls suggest immigration has overtaken the economy as voters' top concern.
Some 109,343 people claimed asylum in the UK in the year ending March 2025, a 17 percent rise on the previous year and 6 percent above the 2002 peak of 103,081.