15/10/2026
🚨 ERITREA RETURNS DEAL — TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has threatened a complete UK visa ban on Eritreans unless the country takes back more of its small boat arrivals and foreign national offenders.
Eritrean diplomats already face travel limits outside London and have lost fast-track visas. Eritrea previously agreed to returns then abruptly pulled out earlier this year.
Only 106 failed Eritrean asylum seekers have been deported out of 2,626 rejected claims in the past four years — under 4%. That means over 96% of those refused asylum are still here.
They’ve been told no. They’ve exhausted their appeals. They have no legal right to remain. Yet they’re still walking around free as a bird, illegally.
Why aren’t they in prison or detained pending removal? The system said no — then did nothing.
Eritreans have one of the highest s*x offence conviction rates in the UK: 53.6 per 10,000 compared with 2.66 for British citizens — over 20 times higher. Only Afghans ranked worse in the MoJ data.
Britons commit offences too. But adding this group multiplies the threat to women and children far beyond the existing baseline. Over 20,000 Eritreans arrived by small boat in the last five years alone.
They were the single biggest nationality on the Channel route in the year to June 2026 (5,875), with an asylum grant rate around 83%+.
Visa bans and diplomat restrictions mean nothing when they can still arrive by boat, get free hotel accommodation, and everything else paid for — then a free flight home if they ever leave.
Who’s going to bother with a legal visa when the boat route gives you the lot for free? It’s like putting a plaster on your toe because you’ve got a toothache.