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Francia Marquez, Vice-President of Colombia, says a meeting was held with Nigerian aviation stakeholders over the commencement of direct flights as part of efforts to deepen bilateral ties.

According to a statement by Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, on Monday, Marquez announced during a visit to the state house in Abuja, where she was received by President Bola Tinubu.

The meeting comes on the heels of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on political consultations signed by both governments.

The agreement was formalised on Monday during the Nigeria-Colombia bilateral meeting and business forum held in Abuja, and was signed by Yusuf Tuggar, Nigeria’s minister of foreign affairs, and Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir, Colombia’s deputy minister for multilateral affairs.

Speaking during the meeting, Marquez said aviation was one of several areas identified for strengthening bilateral relations between the two nations.

She noted that her visit marks the beginning of a long-term relationship built on substantial cultural similarity and heritage.

“We have had a meeting with the business leaders in aviation on the need to start direct flights to Colombia,” Marquez said.

The vice-president assured that relations with Nigeria would benefit both countries, particularly in areas such as social justice, gender equality, and inclusivity.

Also speaking, Tinubu assured the delegation of senior government, business, and diplomatic officials from the South American country that Nigeria will replicate the agreements signed with Brazil on aviation and consular issues with Colombia.

>span class="s1">“Our business opportunities with Colombia have already been enhanced. I support every aspect that you have agreed on,” he said.

“Particularly for Colombia, the agreement we entered with Brazil can easily be replicated in aviation, and our diplomatic relations can be enhanced. The ministry of foreign affairs will accelerate that.”

Femi Gbajabiamila, chief of staff; Wale Edun, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy; Jumoke Oduwole, minister of industry, trade, and investment; and Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, minister of women affairs and social development, were present at the meeting.

Nick Eardley Political correspondent

Paul Seddon Political reporter

Tens of thousands of foreign students are being contacted directly by the government and told they will be removed from the UK if they overstay their visas.

The Home Office launched the new government campaign in response to what it has called an "alarming" spike in the number of international students arriving legally on student visas then claiming asylum when they expire.

As part of the campaign, the Home Office has for the first time proactively contacted international students directly by text and email.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told the BBC some international students are claiming asylum "even when things haven't changed in their home country".

Around 13% of asylum applications in the year to June, around 14,800, came from people in the UK a study visa, according to Home Office data, external.

Pakistan was the most common country of origin, responsible for 5,700 of these applications, followed by students from India, Bangladesh, and Nigeria.

Although the number of student visa holders applying for asylum has dropped from the year before, it is nearly six times as many as in 2020, according to the department.

The Home Office did not break down how many applications were made from students who overstayed their visa.

Clamping down on study as a means to claim asylum has increasingly been a focus for the Home Office in recent months.

In May, the department announced it planned to tighten rules that aim to stop migrants using university study as a way to enter the UK.

Under the plans, beginning this month, the visa refusal and course completion rates that universities have to meet in order not to risk losing their ability to sponsor future visas are to be made stricter.

It comes as the government tries to regain the initiative on migration, following a summer dominated by headlines on small boat arrivals and the use of hotels to house asylum seekers.

As MPs returned to Parliament on Monday, Cooper announced new applications for a scheme allowing refugees to bring their family members to the UK would be temporarily suspended.

The government is also promising that the first migrant returns under the UK's new "one in, one out" deal with France will begin later this month.

The new message campaign will see around 130,000 students and their families receive a message telling them if they have "no legal right to remain" in the country they "must leave".

Ten thousand international students whose visas are due to expire have already been contacted directly by text and email - warning them they could be deported.

Tens of thousands more will receive the message in the coming months, the BBC understands, to coincide with autumn when applications often increase.

The full message will read: "If you submit an asylum claim that lacks merit, it will be swiftly and robustly refused.

"Any request for asylum support will be assessed against destitution criteria. If you do not meet the criteria, you will not receive support.

"If you have no legal right to remain in the UK, you must leave.

"If you don't, we will remove you."

Cooper told BBC Breakfast that students are entering the asylum system and sometimes staying there for years, which "causes problems with asylum accommodation and hotels".

"We obviously will do our bit to support genuine refugees," she added, "but if nothing has changed in their country, people should not be claiming asylum at the end of a student course."

While the political focus this summer has been on people arriving on small boats, a similar number arrive legally with visas, then apply for asylum often when those visas run out.

Many of these claims are legitimate, but ministers are worried that too many international students are seeking asylum simply to stay in the country because their leave to remain has run out.

According to the Home Office, 43,600 out of 111,084 asylum applications in the year to June came from people arriving on a small boat.

But a similar number, 41,100, had travelled to the UK legally through routes such as a work, study, or visitor visa, including the 14,800 on student visas.

Earlier this year, the Home Office announced a cut in the amount of time overseas graduates can stay in the UK after their studies – from two years to 18 months.

Universities UK, an umbrella group for British universities, said it recognised the government had "raised concerns about the number of asylum claims, and we have discussed this matter with officials".

"To make sure universities can continue to play their part, we need improved, real-time data sharing between Home Office and the sector so that universities can respond proactively to any issues as soon as they are identified," it added.

The Refugee Council said the situation in some students' home countries could change "dramatically" after their arrival in the UK.

Jon Featonby, the charity's senior policy analyst, said other people seeking asylum only felt safe enough to ask for protection once they reach the UK "because they fear reprisal or surveillance in their home country".

"It's wrong to suggest that people who arrive on a visa and then apply for asylum are abusing the system and do not have a genuine need for protection," he added.

BY  Rachael Burford

Ministers are set to crack down on foreign students remaining in the UK once their visas run out as 15,000 a year are now claiming asylum, the Home Secretary has said.

International students and their families will, for the first time, be contacted by the Home Office to warn them they must leave if they have no right to remain in Britain.

The text and email campaign is the latest step the Government is taking to grasp migration after Yvette Cooper revealed the first returns of migrants crossing the Channel will begin later this month.

On Tuesday she confirmed ministers are seeking to prevent international students claiming asylum once their visas come to an end.

"Up to 15,000 students each year end up claiming asylum", she told BBC Breakfast.

International students will recieve a text that states: “If you submit an asylum claim that lacks merit, it will be swiftly and robustly refused.

“Any request for asylum support will be assessed against destitution criteria. If you do not meet the criteria, you will not receive support.

“If you have no legal right to remain in the UK, you must leave. If you don’t, we will remove you.”

On Monday, MPs returned to Parliament after a summer which saw unrest over how ministers have handled the small boats crisis.

The Home Secretary told the Commons that following the deal signed with France last month “we expect the first returns to begin later this month”.

The “one in, one out” pilot scheme has been agreed for the UK to send back migrants to France who crossed the Channel, in exchange for those who apply and are approved to come to the UK.

Ms Cooper also told the Commons new applications to the existing refugee family reunion route will be suspended this week, meaning refugees will be covered by “the same family migration rules and conditions as everyone else” until new rules are introduced.

Further reforms to family reunion routes will be outlined later this year and introduced by spring.

Tens of thousands of students will get the message after a spike in the number of overseas students claiming asylum once their studies come to an end.

Tens of thousands of foreign students have been contacted by the Home Office and warned they will be deported if they overstay their visas.

In part of separate plans to crack down on illegal immigration, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper also told Gareth Barlow on Sky News Breakfast that she expects the first deportations under a new returns deal with France to begin "later this month".

The Home Office messaging campaign comes as it says there has been a spike in the number of overseas students claiming asylum once their studies come to an end.

The text warns that asylum applications without merit will be "swiftly and robustly refused", and those without a legal right to remain in the UK must leave or face removal.

Nearly 10,000 students and dependents received the warning last week, but the plan is to send it to over 130,000 people in total as their visa expiry dates approach.

The full message reads: "If you submit an asylum claim that lacks merit, it will be swiftly and robustly refused.

"Any request for asylum support will be assessed against destitution criteria. If you do not meet the criteria, you will not receive support.

"If you have no legal right to remain in the UK, you must leave. If you don't, we will remove you."

The campaign is the latest step in the government's attempt to crack down on migration.

While the summer recess has been dominated by negative headlines about small boat crossings, ministers want to bring down legal levels too, which they argue soared under the Tories.

According to the Home Office, asylum claims from legal routes - those who have entered the UK on a visa or other leave - tripled between June 2022 and June 2025, accounting for 37% (41,400) of overall claims in the year ending June 2025.

International students made up the highest proportion of claimants at 40%, followed by 29% from work visas and 24% visitors.

The data shows that over the past six months, there has been a 10% fall in student asylum claims, but the government wants this to drop further.

Ministers are under pressure to clear the asylum backlog and empty hotels after weeks of protests in many towns across the country against their use.

One way the government is trying to do this is through the previously agreed "one-in-one-out" deal with France.

Ms Cooper, speaking to Sky News on Tuesday, said she expected the first deportations to begin "later this month".

However, she would not give a "cast-iron guarantee", stressing the one-in-one-out deal is a "pilot" scheme.

On Monday, as Sir Keir Starmer launched "phase two" of his government with a reshuffle in Number 10, Ms Cooper also announced a crackdown on family reunion rules to deter small boat crossings.

But Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, which announced its migration policy last week, accused her of talking "waffle".

He told Sky News: "The only way that you will create a proper deterrent is to detain and deport everybody who comes here illegally. Her measures, announced yesterday, is just more waffle. It'll make no difference whatsoever."

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