The UK is to 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.
