The UK government on Monday threatened visa bans on three African countries unless they accept the returns of irregular migrants, as the interior minister was set to announce sweeping changes to the asylum system.
Britain said it would stop granting visas to nationals from Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo unless the countries accepted the returns of "their criminals and illegal immigrants,” the interior ministry said in a statement.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood was expected later on Monday to announce what has been touted by the government as the "most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in modern times.”
Immigration has become a bitterly divisive issue in Britain in recent years, fueling support for the hard-right Reform UK party.
Mahmood's hardline rhetoric and measures is aimed at curbing asylum seekers crossing the Channel from France to Britain on small boats -- but they are widely seen as an attempt to claw back public support from Reform, which has surged past the governing Labour Party in popularity polls.
Echoing US President Donald Trump's travel bans, the Home Office said the "three countries face penalties for their unacceptably low cooperation and obstructive returns processes,” Reuters reported.
Home Office minister Alex Norris told Sky News the countries had "one month to get this in order.”
The government also said it would consider similar measures against other countries.
These include an "emergency brake" on visas for people from countries with high rates of asylum claims, who travel to the UK by legal routes.
Despite an increase in asylum claims being submitted, the number of initial positive decisions the UK authorities have granted fell from 2023 to 2024, according to the latest government figures.
Thousands of visas have been granted under humanitarian schemes for Ukrainians, Afghans and Hong Kong residents in recent years.
Other planned measures, modelled on Denmark's strict asylum system, will include ending automatic benefits for asylum seekers and drastically reducing protections for refugees.
One of the most contentious proposals -- which has been condemned by charities as well as Labour lawmakers -- will see the length of refugee status cut from five years to 30 months.
Refugees will have their protection "regularly reviewed" and will be forced to return to their home countries once those are deemed safe.
They will also need to wait for 20 years, instead of the current five, before they can apply for permanent residency.
"We should be welcoming and integrating and not creating this situation of kind of perpetual limbo and alienation, which doesn’t help the refugees and it doesn't help society," Labour MP Tony Vaughan told the BBC's Today program.
