The United Kingdom has halted “active recruitment” of health and social care personnel from Nigeria and 53 other countries globally, mostly African nations.
Health and social care employers are advised by the UK government not to actively target Nigeria and other countries on the red list for recruitment unless there was a government-to-government agreement.
This announcement was made in the revised code of practice for the international recruitment of health and social care personnel in England.
The countries on the red list are; Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Liberia.
Other countries are Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Federated States of Micronesia, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Samoa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Republic of Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The British Government, however, said the list does not prevent individual health and social care personnel from independently applying to health and social care employers for employment in the United Kingdom.
In 2021, the UK suspended the recruitment of healthcare workers from Nigeria and 46 other countries, noting that the increasing healthcare workers migration from lower-middle-income countries to UK. (RN)
