Prominent British far-right activist Tommy Robinson said he was barred from entering Colombia after being deemed a “threat to national security.”
The nationalist anti-immigrant campaigner, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, said he was then detained by Panamanian authorities after taking a flight from Bogotá to Panama City, before being deported back to the United Kingdom.
Robinson, who said he was flying to South America as a tourist, is one of Britain’s most renowned far-right figureheads, recently organizing a massive nationalist rally in London.
“I just needed to have a break from everything, so I thought where can I have a break? I know, South America. Why South America? Because nobody would really know me,” said Robinson in a video on X reportedly filmed in the Panama airport’s detention center.
“I landed in Bogotá and what do you think happened? Detained. Threat to national security. Deported,” said Robinson.
He explained that following the ‘United the Kingdom’ rally in London last weekend, he planned a holiday in Colombia but was detained upon arrival at Bogotá’s El Dorado airport.
It is unclear when exactly Robinson arrived but he shared an image purporting to show an official letter from Colombian immigration authorities issued on Friday, September 19.
The document said the white nationalist “represents a risk to the Security of the State or the citizen coexistence.”
The far-right activist claimed he “spent the whole day in a detention room” before being told he would be deported, after which he got permission from authorities to fly to Panama instead.
But the small Central American nation was also reluctant to allow Robinson to pass through their border.
“I landed in Panama, what do you think happened? Detained. Being deported,” said Robinson.
Robinson was released from a UK prison in May after a seven-month sentence for repeated false claims that a Syrian refugee was a violent thug despite a court injunction barring him for libel. He rose to prominence after leading the anti-Islamic English Defence League from 2009 to 2013.
In the video on X, the activist, known for his staunch anti-immigrant stance, criticized border authorities for barring him from entering their countries.
He reportedly planned to visit “little islands” in Colombia but did not specify which ones.
Other than seeking anonymity and “a totally chill time”, it is unclear why Robinson chose the South American nation as a travel destination. But the activist described Colombia as a “country that exports beautiful women and narcos – that’s it.”
