British Conservative Party MP Tim Loughton. Credit Photo/Twitter X
A member of the British Conservative Party said that he was refused a trip to Djibouti because of the close relationship the country in East Africa has with China. Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, said he was detained for more than seven hours and banned from entering Djibouti earlier this month, according to The Guardian newspaper reported.
Mr Loughton, who has been banned by China since 2021, described the incident as “lonely and scary”.
China’s Foreign Office said the allegations are baseless.
“I was part of a delegation from Hargeisa administration that wanted to get international recognition. It seceded from Somalia in 1991. I went through Djibouti while the rest of my friends went through Addis Ababa. I had a meeting with the ambassador to give him information about Hargeisa. I would be in the country for about 36 hours.”
“I come. I got off the plane to get my visa and then meet the person who would take me to the hotel. Then the problem started. When they scanned my passport they asked me what I did. I told him that I am a member of parliament and then the situation worsened. Then they made me sit in a corner of the landing hall. Everyone on the plane left. I sat there for an hour.”
“Then someone was guarding me and took me to a room. I was locked in that room. I was there for a few hours. When they came to me, they explained to me that I was not allowed to enter the country, and they ordered a plane that would take me to my country. That was it, no explanation was given. I stayed there for 7 hours before being deported and put on a plane and then I came to the UK. I arrived 24 hours earlier than I expected to arrive. I still don’t know the official reason,” said MP Tim Loughton.
“Djibouti is effectively a Chinese country – what China wants, because Djibouti having a troublesome Chinese-sanctioned MP come to their door was something they didn’t want to joke about.”
“This was another example of how the Chinese Communist Party’s tentacles are spreading far and wide, and the negative impact they are having on sensitive parts of Africa is particularly worrying,” he told the BBC Online.
In 2021, China imposed sanctions on five MPs, including Mr Loughton, after they spread what they called “lies and misinformation”.
It comes in retaliation for measures taken by the UK government against human rights abuses against the Uighur Muslim minority.
Mr Loughton is co-chairman of the all-parliamentary group on Tibet, which has exposed China’s record of human rights abuses.
In 2019, he introduced the Exchange Access Bill in the House of Commons which would require the UK government to take action against Chinese officials who deny them access to Tibet.
He is also a leading member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international group working to reform how democratic countries relate to China.
The former minister and a member of the Electoral Committee of the Interior has said that he will not run for the next election as he has been in Parliament for more than 27 years.