Zia Yusuf from Reform UK Proposes Blocking Visas for Citizens of Countries Pursuing Slavery Reparations

Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s home affairs spokesperson, has announced plans to deny visas to citizens of any country pursuing compensation for Britain’s historical role in the transatlantic slave trade, a move that has drawn international attention.

He described reparations claims as “insulting,” noting that 3.8 million visas have been issued over the past 20 years to nationals from countries making such demands.

The transatlantic slave trade, conducted over four centuries by seven European powers including the UK, forcibly transported more than 15 million Africans. Scholars link the wealth generated from slavery to the industrial rise of the West, a legacy that continues to shape global economic and social disparities.

Last month, the UN recognised the transatlantic slave trade as the “gravest crime against humanity” and called for reparations as a step toward remedying historical injustices. The resolution, proposed by Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama and endorsed by the African Union and Caricom (Caribbean Community), was abstained by the UK and EU members, while the US, Israel and Argentina voted against it.

Yusuf argued that Britain had made “huge sacrifices” by being the first major power to abolish slavery and enforce its prohibition, insisting that the UK would no longer tolerate being “ridiculed on the world stage.” He added that countries pressing for reparations were attempting to “use history as a weapon to drain our treasury” and stressed that Reform UK would also cut international aid to nations making such claims.

Yusuf Zia, UK Reform Home Affairs Spokesman, appears in Picture @Ghana Chronicles X’s account.