Africa-Press. After weeks of diplomatic tension between Kinshasa and London, the authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo announced that they had agreed to receive their nationals facing deportation from the United Kingdom—an خطوة that The Africa Report described as being conditional on a series of procedural arrangements.
The issue of removing irregular migrants in the UK has been prominent since Boris Johnson’s government (2019–2022) and has remained the subject of wide political controversy. Although current Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said the plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda was “ended and buried,” his government still maintains a policy of returning those it considers to be living in the country unlawfully.
London accused the DRC of dragging its feet on taking back undocumented nationals, prompting it last December to impose restrictions on visas for Congolese citizens, while threatening to tighten them further if cooperation did not improve quickly.
The agreement was announced on 6 February following talks between the Congolese deputy minister for diaspora affairs and Francophonie, Crispin Mbadu, and the UK ambassador in Kinshasa, Alison King. UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood welcomed the deal and considered it a warning to other countries that might hesitate to take back their citizens, stressing that “refusal by foreign governments to take back their nationals will have consequences.”
For its part, Kinshasa is seeking to preserve its standing by emphasizing that deportations must be carried out under “humane and transparent” procedures, and by insisting on prior verification of deportees’ identities and confirmation of their nationality. According to the newspaper, the agreement also covers the return of people who have received criminal convictions in the UK.
The understandings are not limited to the DRC: Angola and Namibia have also agreed to cooperate with London on this issue. Official estimates indicate that more than 3,000 “irregular” migrants from these three countries could face deportation under these arrangements.
