New home secretary vows to suspend visas for countries not accepting migrants

New Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans to suspend visas for countries that refuse to accept their migrants. She stated that this could penalize citizens seeking to travel legally if their governments do not cooperate with deportations from the UK. Mahmood emphasized coordinated action among the Five Eyes nations: the UK, US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

She declared, “For countries that do not play ball, we’ve been talking about how we can take much more co-ordinated action.” The proposal could use powers established by the previous government in the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.

Details are still unclear, though it could involve reciprocal visa restrictions. Small boat crossings in the UK have surpassed 30,000 this year, leading officials to explore military bases for housing asylum seekers.