UK threatens Eritreans with entry ban unless returns policy changes

Warning over returns cooperation

The Home Office said Eritrea ended cooperation on returns earlier this year. Mahmood warned that Eritreans could be barred from entering the UK if their government does not agree to take back more nationals.

She said the policy concerns people refused asylum as well as foreign criminals. Arrangements to return people are important to removing those groups, the report said.

Arrivals and deportation figures

Just over 100 Eritreans refused asylum have been deported. That is less than 4% of the 2,626 people whose claims were rejected over the previous four years.

Other possible sanctions

India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Somalia, Egypt and Gabon have been named as countries resistant to accepting the return of illegal migrants and could face sanctions. Mahmood said about 84% are successful on their first asylum application, with more expected to succeed on appeal.

Safety concerns over return

An Eritrean asylum seeker said people sent back could be imprisoned and might not get out. A report launched earlier this year said there were reasonable grounds to believe crimes against humanity continued in Eritrea.

The report cited enforced disappearances, long detention without charge or trial, torture, and persecution of political opponents, journalists and religious communities. It also said the situation had not become safer after Labour won the UK election in 2024 or Mahmood began her Home Office term in 2025.