United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, said the country is dispatching immigration experts to West African nations to help catch migrants with fake visas before they board flights to Britain.
This move is aimed at heightening security efforts to prevent would-be asylum seekers from reaching the UK from the region amid concern over a “spike” in attempts.
It was gathered that there has been a big increase in the number of people from sub-Saharan Africa trying to enter Britain on fake student and healthcare visas.
The Labour government has been repeatedly accused of failing to tackle immigration as number of asylum seekers housed in government hotels has risen in the first year under the Sir Keir Starmer leadership.
Latest Home Office figures reveal that the number of people claiming asylum in the year to June rose to a record 111,000, while the number of small boats crossing the Channel continues to grow.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has continue to put the Labour government under huge pressure to significantly cut levels of illegal migration and the opposition Leader has recently pledged to run five deportation flights a day if it wins power.
The Foreign Office said it has dispatched immigration experts to countries in West Africa, including Ghana and Nigeria, to try to shut off the air route into the UK.
The Africa Media learnt that British officials are working with local police in the countries that made up the region to crack down on people smugglers, and helping airline staff to improve security checks and spot fake visas.
Lammy said: “Tackling irregular migration demands cooperation across borders and industries to disrupt the pathways used by those attempting to enter the UK illegally.
“We are strengthening partnerships with our partners in West Africa, the airline industry, and enforcement agencies, to secure our borders and deliver on the Plan for Change.
“Together we are sending a clear message – air travel simply isn’t an option without proper authorisation and registration.”
Ministers said there was a “spike” last year in the number of fraudulent attempts to enter the UK by air with fake documents from sub-Saharan Africa.
No fewer than 250 potential asylum seekers were stopped, with student and health and social care visas amongst those that are most commonly forged.
Some of them were arrested for forgery of documents to illegally travel to Britain and they were subsequently prosecuted in their home countries.
Ministers have also stepped up joint policing efforts with Western African nations to try to take down organised crime groups running smuggling routes.
UK experts are working with the local authorities in Ghana to trace the gangs that are supplying false travel documents to migrants.
Similar work is under way in Nigeria, where an Organised Immigration Crime Unit has been set up to target smugglers exploiting the UK visa system.
