The British government has decided to introduced visa sanctions against nationals of the Gambia and other countries for refusing to cooperate in taking back rejected asylum seekers and offenders from the Unite Kingdom.
UK Home Secretary, Priti Patel, has applied slow-down measures to paperwork for Gambian applicants.
According to Ms Patel the Gambia repeatedly ignored calls and only accepted four criminals last year. Countries such as Sierra Leone, Eritrea, Cambodia and Vietnam are also understood to have poor records on deportations.
The Home Secretary said those staying in the country cost the UK taxpayer by using public services and make a mockery of the rules.
She told The Sun on Sunday: “Countries around the globe must work with us to take back their own nationals if they abuse our hospitality by committing crimes.
“However, some countries do not cooperate on returns and so we will impose visa penalties on countries who refuse to take criminals back.
“We rightly take back British citizens who commit crimes abroad and other countries do the same.”
About 11,000 criminals in the UK are awaiting deportation, stats show, up from 4,000 ten years ago. There are about 6,000 failed asylum-seekers who receive support but are difficult to return owing to a lack of assistance from their home nations.
New powers in the Nationality and Borders Bill could also see additional costs added to visas or the suspension of visas entirely until the situation improves.
The Home Secretary renewed calls for greater cooperation to tackle illegal migration, insisting: “Our asylum system is broken, but we will fix it.”
