Recently, British Conservative Party MP Tim Loughton stated that during his visit to the East African country of Djibouti, he was detained and deported. He believes this incident is a result of Djibouti’s close relationship with the Chinese Communist regime.
Loughton revealed that he was detained for over seven hours earlier this month in Djibouti and was denied entry. Describing the experience as “very lonely and frightening,” he shared his ordeal in an interview with the BBC.
He, along with seven other British Members of Parliament, were sanctioned by the Chinese Communist regime in 2021 for criticizing human rights violations in Xinjiang.
Djibouti maintains a close relationship with Beijing and has received billions of dollars in investments, including a new sports stadium, hospital, a $1 billion space launch facility, and a free trade zone with manufacturing and warehouse facilities.
The Chinese Communist military base established in Djibouti was inaugurated in 2017.
Currently serving as the Deputy Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee in the UK Parliament, Loughton arrived in Djibouti on April 8 with plans for a 24-hour visit, including a meeting with the British Ambassador to Djibouti.
Upon his arrival, Loughton said his passport was scanned, and he was questioned about his purpose. “I told them I am a Member of the British Parliament, and then the atmosphere turned very cool,” Loughton said.
Loughton remarked, “Djibouti is effectively a vassal state of China.”
He expressed that Djibouti would comply with whatever the Chinese Communist regime wanted, and a legislator sanctioned by them was evidently unwelcome.
Loughton stated that without any explanation, he was detained in the immigration hall for an hour, then taken to a holding room where he was held alone for three more hours.
Ultimately, he was arranged to board the next flight out of the country.
“This is yet another example of the long reach of the Chinese regime and its detrimental influence, particularly worrying in sensitive regions of Africa,” he said.
Loughton mentioned that he raised the issue with the UK Foreign Minister Andrew Mitchell and lodged a protest against this “shameful” behavior through a letter from the Foreign Office to the Djibouti Ambassador to the UK.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry denied the allegations as baseless.
Loughton serves as the Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet, which highlights the Chinese Communist regime’s human rights record. He is also a key member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), an international bipartisan organization dedicated to reforming countries’ China policies to safeguard human rights and uphold order based on international rules.