One of United Kingdom’s leading opposition parties, Reform UK, has proposed a visa ban on Nigerians and others from some African and Caribbean countries, over a recent United Nations resolution urging reparations for transatlantic slavery.

The Home Affairs spokesman for Reform UK, Zia Yusuf, disclosed the plan to the Daily Telegraph on Monday, stating that should the right wing party form the next government, it would prevent citizens from countries actively seeking reparations from the UK over slavery from entering the country.

“A growing number of countries are demanding reparations from Britain. They ignore the fact that Britain made huge sacrifices to be the first major power to outlaw slavery and enforce this prohibition,” Mr Yusuf said. 

He added, “Astonishingly, of the countries demanding reparations, Tory and Labour governments issued 3.8 million visas to their nationals and sent them a staggering £6.6billion in foreign aid over the past two decades. Enough is enough.”

Other countries being targeted by the Reform UK’s proposal include Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Kenya, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname. 

The party announced the plan less than two weeks after the UN overwhelmingly passed a resolution recognising the transatlantic slave trade as the gravest crime against humanity. The resolution was proposed by Ghana and received backing from African and Caribbean nations. 

The resolution, which 123 countries voted in favour of, also urged members to apologise for slave trade and to contribute funds for reparations for the atrocities. The UK alongside 51 other countries abstained from voting, while the United States of America, Argentina and Israel voted against it. 

A 2023 report written and compiled by a former judge of the International Court of Justice, Patrick Robinson, concluded that the UK owes $24 trillion as reparations for transatlantic slavery in 14 countries.

“The United Kingdom is not an ATM for ethnic grievances of the past, and we will no longer tolerate being ridiculed on the world stage. While countries like Jamaica, Nigeria and Ghana ramp up their demands for reparations, the Westminster establishment has rewarded them. Enough is enough,” Mr Yusuf stated.