A former Tory minister says he was deported from a country in East Africa in the latest sign that karma is alive and well.
Tim Loughton, the Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, said he was barred entry into Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, due to his previous criticisms of China.
He was held for more than seven hours at the airport before being removed on the next available flight.
The MP told the Daily Telegraph he believes his “intimidating” detention and expulsion by the Djibouti authorities was a “direct consequence” of his criticism of the Chinese regime.
China imposed sanctions on seven parliamentarians including Loughton in 2021 over what it called the spreading of “lies and disinformation” about human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
Djibouti has received billions of dollars of investment from the Chinese including a new stadium, hospital, a $1 billionn (£790m) space port and a free trade zone housing manufacturing and warehouse facilities.
Loughton told the Telegraph: “As soon as I revealed I was a British MP, and my passport was checked, things turned decidedly frosty.”
The Tory MP said he was held for an hour without any explanation in the arrivals hall and was subsequently taken to a holding room where he was detained alone for three hours.
Loughton, who is standing down as an MP at the next general election, added: “They gave me no reason. I kept saying: ‘Why?’ and they could not tell me.
“In short, it was a highly intimidating and very lonely experience in a very strange country.”
Related: Depression and anxiety sufferers to lose sickness benefits in welfare reforms
