Nigerians sleep in waste bins amid UK deportation threat

UK flag

Several undocumented Nigerians and other Africans residing in the United Kingdom have been sleeping in waste bins on the streets to evade deportations.

In 2025, the UK government embarked on a major overhaul of immigration policy, tagged ‘Plan for Change.’

The policy sent a wave of fear among migrants as those without legal status were deported in mid-2025.

The Home Office announced that 43 asylum seekers and offenders were returned on a charter flight to Nigeria and Ghana.

“Those removed had no right to be in the UK, including 15 failed asylum seekers and 11 foreign national offenders who had served their sentences,” the Home Office said.

Additionally, the British government stated that it would continue to tighten immigration rules to reduce net migration, strengthen border control, and reshape legal immigration around skills and contributions.

Subsequently, a viral video obtained by Diaspora Tales showed an African man sleeping in a bin on a snowy street in the UK.

A European man was seen asking him to go and make use of a shelter provided by the UK government.

Reacting to the video, Nigerians in the UK who spoke to Diaspora Tales, said the fear of being caught, detained and deported had forced many illegal migrants to leave their homes and sleep on the streets.

Crimes and homelessness

Mrs Gisela Esapa, in Dunstable County, said many migrants who sleep on the streets and in bins were usually those engaging in crimes and facing homelessness.

Esapa said sleeping on the streets was not restricted to Nigerians and other migrants, adding that Brits and other Europeans in the UK also find themselves in the same situation.