The United Kingdom (UK) has banned the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), and other similar Biafran groups from participating in the country’s asylum program. The British government stated that “IPOB is proscribed as a terrorist group by the Nigerian government, and members of the group and its paramilitary wing – the Eastern Security Network, have reportedly committed human rights violations in Nigeria.” This was revealed in an updated UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) asylum policy which also stated that MASSOB is not proscribed as a terrorist group in Nigeria but has reportedly been involved in several violent clashes with Nigerian authorities.
According to the policy, “If a person has been involved with IPOB (and/or an affiliated group), MASSOB or any other Biafran group that incites or uses violence to achieve its aims, decision-makers must consider whether one (or more) of the exclusion clauses under the Refugee Convention is applicable. Persons who commit human rights violations must not be granted asylum.
“If the person is excluded from the Refugee Convention, they will also be excluded from a grant of humanitarian protection.”
The policy however advised asylum decision-makers to “consider all claims on an individual basis, taking into account each case’s specific facts.”
According to the policy, “Decision-makers will also need to take into account whether the person supports and is active on behalf of IPOB, which is a proscribed group in Nigeria, and whether they fear prosecution rather than persecution.
“The onus is on the person to demonstrate that they are of interest to the government because of their profile and activities and are at risk of serious harm or persecution”.
IPOB was declared a terrorist group by the Nigerian government in September 2017; the group’s leader who is also a British citizen, Nnamdi Kanu was repatriated in June 2021 and is currently on trial in Nigeria on charges bordering on treason and terrorism.
As part of its refugee policy published in April 2021, the UK government was planning to grant asylum to IPOB and MASSOB members but reversed this decision following complaints by the Nigerian government.