{"id":7505,"date":"2026-06-26T16:35:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T16:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/26\/eu-targets-somalia-with-visa-curbs-as-president-pushes-back-on-returns\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T16:35:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T16:35:53","slug":"eu-targets-somalia-with-visa-curbs-as-president-pushes-back-on-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/26\/eu-targets-somalia-with-visa-curbs-as-president-pushes-back-on-returns\/","title":{"rendered":"EU targets Somalia with visa curbs as president pushes back on returns"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>President says his country will readmit genuine nationals but insists Europe must first verify deportees\u2019 identities.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p><strong>Mogadishu, Somalia \u2013<\/strong> The European Union has imposed visa restrictions on Somali citizens, escalating a dispute with Mogadishu over the return of Somalis living in Europe illegally.<\/p>\n<p>The bloc\u2019s member states approved the measures on Thursday, acting on a report that Somalia was not doing enough to take back nationals who had been refused the right to stay.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/6\/11\/somali-referee-banned-by-us-to-officiate-european-super-cup-uefa-says\">Somali referee banned by US to officiate European Super Cup, UEFA says<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/6\/10\/heros-welcome-for-somali-referee-denied-entry-to-us-world-cup-tournament\">Hero\u2019s welcome for Somali referee denied entry to US World Cup tournament<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/6\/20\/israel-fetes-somalilands-leader-as-it-seeks-to-expand-red-sea-influence\">Israel fetes Somaliland\u2019s leader as it seeks to expand Red Sea influence<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Somalia\u2019s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud pushed back, saying his government would readmit its citizens, but said that many returnees were not Somali nationals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe haven\u2019t rejected our people; they own this country. And we cannot reject them,\u201d the president said at an Independence Day event on Thursday, adding that Somalia had \u201cquestions about how those people would be returned.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>People across the Horn of Africa share a similar appearance, he said, and some present themselves as Somali to claim asylum in Europe. He pointed to past cases in which individuals sent back as Somalis turned out not to be, including some who \u201cdon\u2019t know the Somali language.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf they are Somali, then we\u2019ll take them. If they aren\u2019t, we\u2019ll help you find out where they are from, and you can send them there,\u201d Mohamud said.<\/p>\n<p>The pressures driving people to leave are rooted in decades of upheaval.<\/p>\n<p>Somalia is still rebuilding after the collapse of its central government in 1991 and the long civil war that followed.<\/p>\n<p>Recovery efforts have been stifled by the ongoing armed rebellion of al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-linked armed group that has waged deadly attacks since 2006.<\/p>\n<p>Those conditions have pushed many young Somalis to attempt the dangerous journey to Europe, often through Libya, where migrants have faced detention, extortion and violence.<\/p>\n<p>The prime minister regularly handled such cases, Mohamud said, adding that Somali embassies had been instructed to help citizens return.<\/p>\n<p>Magnus Brunner, the bloc\u2019s migration commissioner, said countries of origin had to meet their commitments \u201cotherwise, there can be consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A European Commission assessment concluded that Somalia\u2019s cooperation on readmission was insufficient.<\/p>\n<p>Under the new rules, member states can no longer issue multiple-entry visas to Somalis, and the fee waiver for holders of diplomatic passports has been removed. The standard processing time for visa applications has also been extended from 15 to 45 days.<\/p>\n<p>The suspension has no fixed end date and is intended as leverage to push Mogadishu towards closer cooperation.<\/p>\n<p>Somalia now joins a short list of countries hit with such measures.<\/p>\n<p>The EU imposed similar restrictions on The Gambia in 2021 and Ethiopia in 2024, lifting the Ethiopian curbs in May after deciding cooperation had improved.<\/p>\n<p>The visa restrictions add to a run of setbacks for Somali travellers.<\/p>\n<p>The United States <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/6\/5\/trump-announces-travel-ban-on-people-from-12-countries\">imposed a sweeping travel ban<\/a> in 2025, after President Donald Trump returned to office, covering citizens of a dozen countries, including Somalia.<\/p>\n<p>The policy drew attention this month when Omar Abdulkadir Artan, named Africa\u2019s referee of the year in 2025, was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/6\/10\/heros-welcome-for-somali-referee-denied-entry-to-us-world-cup-tournament\">denied entry<\/a> to the US and couldn\u2019t officiate at the World Cup, despite holding a valid visa.<\/p>\n<p>The standoff comes as the EU tightens its wider approach to migration, pursuing return centres beyond its borders and faster deportations for people refused the right to stay.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President says his country will readmit genuine nationals but insists Europe must first verify deportees\u2019 identities. Mogadishu, Somalia \u2013 The European Union has imposed visa restrictions on Somali citizens, escalating a dispute with Mogadishu over the return of Somalis living in Europe illegally. The bloc\u2019s member states approved the measures on Thursday, acting on a &#8230; <a title=\"EU targets Somalia with visa curbs as president pushes back on returns\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/06\/26\/eu-targets-somalia-with-visa-curbs-as-president-pushes-back-on-returns\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about EU targets Somalia with visa curbs as president pushes back on returns\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}