Britain is imposing visa requirements for all visitors from Dominica, Honduras, Namibia, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu, as Suella Braverman cited abuse of the migration system.
The Home Secretary said the changes were being made “solely
for migration and border security reasons” and insisted it is “not a sign of
poor relations with these countries”.
In a written statement to MPs on Wednesday, she said
Dominica and Vanuatu’s “operation of a citizenship by investment scheme has
shown clear and evident abuse”.
The two Commonwealth allies have been granting “citizenship
to individuals known to pose a risk to the UK”, she said.
These high numbers are unsustainable, contributing
significantly to operational pressures which have resulted in frontline
resource being diverted from other operational priorities
Ms Braverman said there had been a “sustained and
significant increase” in nationals from Namibia and Honduras who had “abused”
their right to visit the UK for a limited period without a visa in order to
claim asylum.
“As such, Namibians and Hondurans rank first amongst
non-visa nationals for asylum claims,” she wrote.
“These high numbers are unsustainable, contributing
significantly to operational pressures which have resulted in frontline
resource being diverted from other operational priorities.”
Namibia is another member of the Commonwealth of 56 mainly
former British colonies.
As for Timor-Leste, Ms Braverman said there had been a
“sustained increase” in its nationals arriving at the border as “non-genuine
visitors”.
She said they often had “the intention to fraudulently claim
EU Settlement Scheme status as dependants or to work illegally in the UK”.
Ms Braverman was allowing a four-week transition period for
those who hold confirmed bookings to the UK to travel without visas before the
new regime hits.
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