Nigeria, Australia, several other countries warn about travel to UK amid riots

Nigeria, Australia, Indonesia and a number of other countries have warned their citizens about traveling to the UK, as a spate of anti-immigrant riots grips cities across Britain.

The UK’s worst social unrest in years was sparked by the stabbing deaths of three young girls in Stockport, northwest England, last week. Since then, anti-Muslim and anti-immigration extremists have been mobilized by a wave of disinformation about the killings, including false claims the attacker was an immigrant.

Rioters attacked hotels used to house asylum seekers in two cities at the weekend, and clashed with police in several others, leading to hundreds of arrests.

A number of countries have issued warnings in response, including a group of Muslim-majority nations.

Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a travel alert on Monday warning its citizens planning to visit the UK that “demonstrations by far right and other extra-parliamentary groups in parts of the UK in recent weeks have been large and in some instances unruly” and that “there is an increased risk of violence and disorder.”

The alert advises Nigerian citizens to be “extra vigilant” and “self-aware at all times” and to avoid crowded areas, large gatherings and political processions and rallies.

Kenya’s principal secretary for foreign affairs, Korir Sing’Oei, took to social media platform X on Sunday to post, ““A deeply worrying situation in the UK. Kenyans are urged to exercise caution.”

Violent protests have also been taking place in multiple cities in Nigeria this weekend over hunger and “bad governance,” with Kenya too recently dealing with nationwide protests against proposed tax hikes.

“Nigeria and Kenya are warning their citizens in the UK after riots in the former colonial power,” said Nairobi-based correspondent Larry Madowo. “People are calling this ‘aura for aura’ because the UK and other Western nations often issue travel advisories targeting African countries.”

Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the first nation to react to the UK disorder, issuing “an urgent notice to Malaysians in the United Kingdom” on X on Sunday.

It said it was closely monitoring the situation in the UK and urged its citizens to “stay away from protest areas” and “remain vigilant.”

The Indonesian Embassy in London issued an appeal later Sunday, urging its citizens in the UK to increase vigilance, especially if traveling or doing activities outside the home, and to “avoid large crowds and places that have the potential to become gathering places for masses or groups of demonstrators.”