British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, says the numbers of Nigerians applying for visa to the United Kingdom has increased in recent times.
Laing disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja.
She however said that the UK government was mindful of the situation and was in talks with the Nigerian government to avoid brain-drain to the Nigerian society, especially in the health sector.
The High Commissioner expressed delight that the UK has been taken as an attractive destination for Nigerians, especially students, adding that the UK is ready to welcome talents.
“Indeed UK is, I think, a very attractive destination; I guess for Nigerians, first thing is family links.
“You know, there is a huge obviously Nigerian origin people in diaspora in the UK, so people like to go where they have family or where they have friends; second, is the English language, obviously makes it a lot easier.
“Thirdly is the education and people who have studied they will want to return and I think you know, hopefully and I think this is true, we are a welcoming country and we want to welcome talents, whether it’s people coming to study or people coming to work.
“So yeah, not surprisingly, a lot of Nigerians will be timed to the UK and we have seen actually a very big increase in requests for Nigerian student visas; that is partly because we have changed our policy.
“So it is now easier for Nigerians, students to remain after their studies; they can stay I think up to two years if you have done a masters or a PhD, which will enable people to look for work after they have studied.
“We have labour shortage in the UK at the moment; so seeing talented young Nigerians but we have to balance that, because we don’t also want to be responsible for a massive brain drain from Nigeria because you also need talented people.
“So the Health Sector is an example where there is a lot of Nigerian medics, both nurses and doctors in the National Health Service and we have an agreement with Nigeria to try and ensure that we are not just poaching; so there’s always that balance.
“But I am proud, you know, the UK is seen as a positive destination; that for us is a good thing.”
Responding to why the UK is sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, Laing said that the UK government has a policy designed to enhance migration in partnership with the government of Rwanda.
According to her, although the policy is currently under legal challenges, it is designed to address and meet the challenges of influx of migrants and asylum seekers into the UK.
“We have a policy we have designed to enhance migration in partnership with the government of Rwanda but it is actually under legal challenge at the moment.
“So that is just one element of trying to deal with what is which is frankly a huge problem.
“Like you see on the news, each day, these boats are coming across the channel with migrants from many different countries and it is a huge, huge problem.
“Because when they arrived, they have to find accommodation, it takes a long time to process their applications.
“So we absolutely recognise there are many genuine refugees from countries like Syria; in Africa, it is mostly Eritrea, South Sudan, the people who are fleeing horrible persecution.
“But there are also some people frankly, who are economic migrants. We have seen a surge in Albanian refugees and Albania is relatively a poor country compared to the UK but it is not a country with really terrible conditions.
“So we have to separate the different categories and and it is a massive challenge; and of course, it’s not just the UK that is facing this.
“So the Rwanda policy is just one component of many that we are trying to put in place to address this very challenging problem,” Laing said.
