Three African countries have agreed to take back foreign offenders and illegal migrants after the UK Home Secretary threatened them with visa penalties.

In December - following threats from Shabana Mahmood - Namibia and Angola agreed to cooperate on returns. The home secretary has now also secured cooperation from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

"My message is clear: if foreign governments refuse to accept the return of their citizens, then they will face consequences," she said following the agreement.

The UK government had previously warned it would stop granting visas to people from Angola, Namibia and the DRC if their governments did not improve co-operation on removals.

The Home Office had said that returns from the DRC, Angola and Namibia were being frustrated - with paperwork not being processed or people being required to sign their own documents - giving them an effective veto.

It had warned that the three countries faced penalties for their "unacceptably poor and obstructive returns processes".

While setting out changes to the UK's asylum system in November, Mahmood said visa penalties would be applied to countries that failed to co-operate with returns policies.

Penalties included an "emergency brake" on visas for countries with high asylum claims until they take back citizens in the UK illegally.

Following the agreement with the three countries, Mahmood said: "Illegal migrants and dangerous criminals will now be removed and deported back to Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo."

"I will do what it takes to secure our order and control to our borders," she added.

The government says over 3,000 people from these three countries could be eligible to be removed or deported due to the cooperation.

In the year ending September 2025, there were 36,475 returns and deportations from the UK, an 11% increase on the previous 12 months.

Around 5,000 of the returns were foreign national offenders - 48% came from EU countries and 52% came from non-EU countries.

The Home Secretary has indicated that ​countries which refuse to work with the UK on returns cannot expect a normal visa relationship, with further threats expected for lack of cooperation.

It is understood that India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Somalia and Gabon are all resistant to returns deals and it is possible that the government could look at sanctions for those countries.

The government hopes that increasing the return of illegal migrants will deter people from trying to get to the UK by crossing the English Channel in small boats.

Last year, 41,472 migrants made the journey, a 13% rise on the year before.

At the end of last year, European countries including the UK agreed to negotiate a new approach to interpreting the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to make it easier to deport illegal migrants.

The Conservatives have said they would leave the treaty with party leader Kemi Badenoch arguing it was a necessary step to "protect our borders". BBC