Shabana Mahmood vowed to take a hard-line stance against immigrants when she became Home Secretary earlier this year. In fact, the Labour politician now occupies such a vehement position, she’s even taken action against a country with no recorded illegal entries into the UK.
ALSO READ: Usual proud patriots and free speech champions urge Trump to destroy BBC
A win for Labour on illegal immigration? It’s up in the air…
The new agreement compels three African countries to take back any migrants who enter Britain unlawfully. DR Congo, Angola, and Namibia have been identified as targets by the government. As warned last month, a failure to comply would result in each nation receiving visa restrictions.
Two of the three have complied. But the DR Congo’s response has been deemed insufficient, with Mahmood herself branding it ‘unacceptable’. This has now resulted in diplomats and ministers from the country losing their preferential status, and all citizens will be banned from fast-track entry.
This will serve as the first wave of restrictions. Mahmood has warned that further inaction could lead to a FULL visa ban, blocking all DR Congo nationals from entering the UK – an order which would also include the president. This legal framework was first introduced in 2022 by the Tories.
“The days of Britain being a soft touch for illegal migrants and foreign criminals are over. Angola and Namibia have co-operated, now the Democratic Republic of Congo must do the right thing – accept the return of your citizens or lose the privilege of entering our country.” | Shabana Mahmood
Namibia featured in migrant return deal – despite there being ZERO illegal migrants
However, the move hasn’t exactly been hailed by critics. Many have pointed out the extremely low number of illegal migrants who have actually reached the UK from these countries in the last year, which totals a mere 14. Yes, fourteen. But wait, there’s more…
Overall, 11 illegal arrivals in the past year came from DR Congo, and three from Angola. That leaves Namibia, with a grand total of ZERO.
Although Mahmood and her colleagues will argue that a deterrent is now in place – and can potentially be applied to other countries which are responsible for a higher number of illegal immigrants – the figures have raised eyebrows across the political benches.