The United Kingdom has escalated diplomatic pressure on Eritrea over the east African nation’s ongoing refusal to accept the return of its citizens who are irregular migrants and convicted foreign national offenders, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood issuing a stark ultimatum: a total ban on Eritrean citizens entering the UK if Asmara does not reverse course.
Starting this Thursday, new restrictions will come into force that limit all Eritrean diplomats to travel within a 60km radius of London. Any movement beyond that zone will require explicit advance permission from UK authorities. Beyond movement curbs, the UK government is also suspending fast-track visa processing for Eritrean high-level and VIP visitors. A Home Office spokesperson noted that the new travel rules mirror existing restrictions that Eritrea has long imposed on British diplomatic personnel based in Asmara, the Eritrean capital.
In comments announcing the measures, Mahmood emphasized that Eritrea has been given repeated opportunities to resume cooperation on returns, but has refused to engage unlike other nations that have reached agreements with the UK. She added that the UK government would not hesitate to expand similar punitive measures to any other non-cooperating countries that refuse to accept the repatriation of their citizens who have no legal right to remain in the UK.
According to the UK government, Eritrean authorities abruptly ended all cooperation on migrant returns earlier this year. Data from the House of Commons Library shows that Eritrean nationals were the largest group of irregular migrants arriving in the UK via small boats across the English Channel in the 12-month period ending in June 2025, accounting for 18% of all arrivals during that timeframe.
This is not the first time the UK has used visa and diplomatic restrictions to force cooperation on returns. Earlier this year, London threatened similar measures against Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Restrictions imposed on the DRC last year were fully lifted after Kinshasa improved its cooperation on repatriation, while both Angola and Namibia agreed to revised cooperation frameworks before any punitive measures came into effect.
The latest measures align with a broader asylum and migration policy Mahmood outlined in November, when she announced that visa penalties would be systematically applied to countries that refuse to cooperate with UK repatriation rules. Those penalties include what the government calls an “emergency brake” on visa issuance for nations with high numbers of unresolved asylum claims from their citizens in the UK, which remains in place until the country agrees to take back its irregular residents.
Recent Home Office data shows that irregular small boat arrivals to the UK have dropped 40% year-on-year in 2026, with just over 20,400 arrivals recorded since January. At the same time, total returns and deportations from the UK increased by 8% year-on-year in the 12 months from July 2025 to June 2026, hitting more than 40,600. Of those returned, fewer than 6,000 had been convicted of a criminal offense in the UK.
The BBC has reached out to the Eritrean Embassy in London to request a response to the new UK measures, but has not yet received comment.