The UK will impose visa restrictions against people arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo after its government failed to agree to measures allowing the return of illegal migrants and foreign national offenders.
Ministers say the DRC has not made changes required under the toughening up of the UK’s asylum rules announced in November.
Fast-track visa processes will no longer apply to people from the country, while the Home Office said VIPs and politicians would no longer get preferential treatment when coming to the UK.
Meanwhile, the Home Office said Angola and Namibia had agreed to step up efforts to take back their citizens, having been threatened with sanctions alongside the DRC.
A government source said Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood would not hesitate to ban visas for other countries refusing to take citizens back.
The Home Office said Angola and Namibia agreeing to improve their processes marked the “first delivery success from last month’s asylum reforms”.
The government had warned it would stop granting visas to people from Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo if their governments did not rapidly improve co-operation on removals.
A Home Office source said the agreements could see thousands of people removed and deported.
Under the government’s changes to the UK’s asylum system, refugee status will become temporary, guaranteed housing support for asylum seekers will end and new capped “safe and legal routes” into the UK will be created.
Announcing the changes last month, Mahmood had warned visa penalties would be applied to countries that failed to co-operate with the returns policies, including an “emergency brake” on visas for countries with high asylum claims until they take back citizens in the UK illegally.
The Home Office had said that returns from the DRC, Angola and Namibia were being frustrated – with paperwork not being processed or people being required to sign their own documents – giving them an effective veto.
It had warned that the three countries faced penalties for their “unacceptably poor and obstructive returns processes”.
It said there had been some engagement by the DRC but “unless co-operation rapidly improves” further measures could be imposed, including the possibility of a complete visa ban on people from the country coming to the UK.
Home Secretary Mahmood said: “We expect countries to play by the rules. If one of their citizens has no right to be here, they must take them back.
“I thank Angola and Namibia and welcome their co-operation. Now is the time for the Democratic Republic of Congo to do the right thing. Take your citizens back or lose the privilege of entering our country.”
By BBC News
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