Deputy says he was deported from Africa because of criticism of China

A Conservative MP says he was deported during a trip to Djibouti due to the East African country’s close ties to China.

Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, said he was detained for more than seven hours before being “escorted” onto a flight from Djibouti earlier this month.

Loughton, who had sanctions imposed on him in 2021 by Beijing, said the experience was “very lonely and scary”.

China’s Foreign Ministry said the accusations were groundless.

Loughton was in Djibouti for a 24-hour visit, which included a meeting with the British ambassador.

He said when he arrived his passport was scanned and asked what he did.

“I told them I was a member of parliament and then everything got very cold,” he said BBC Radio 4 Today Program.

“Djibouti is effectively a vassal state of China – what China wants, Djibouti obeys and having a troublesome MP who was sanctioned by China show up on their doorstep was clearly something they didn’t want to consider.”

He said he was put on the next available flight out of the country.

“This was another example of how the tentacles of the Chinese communist government extend far and wide, and its malign influence in sensitive parts of Africa is particularly worrying,” he separately told BBC online.

“However, the intimidation of countless others who have dared to speak out against industrial-scale human rights abuses in China and who do not have the platform of an MP raises serious concerns.”

Human rights

In 2021, China sanctions imposed at five MPs, including Mr Loughton, for spreading what he called “lies and misinformation” about the country.

It emerged in retaliation for action taken by the UK government over human rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim minority group.

Loughton is co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Tibet, which has highlighted China’s record on human rights violations.

In 2019, he introduced the Reciprocal Access Bill in the House of Commons, which requires the UK government to take action against Chinese authorities who deny access to Tibet.

It is also a leading member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international cross-party group working to reform the way democratic countries approach China.

The former minister and member of the Home Affairs Select Committee said he will not run in the next general elections after more than 27 years in parliament.

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