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Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has defended proposed overhauls to the UK’s asylum system, asserting before Parliament that the current framework is “out of control and unfair.”
Addressing the House of Commons, Mahmood stated, “If we fail to deal with this crisis, we will draw more people down a path that starts with anger and ends in hatred.”
The proposed changes include transitioning to temporary refugee status, ending guaranteed housing support for asylum seekers, and establishing new, capped “safe and legal routes” into the UK.
While some Labour MPs voiced concerns, with Nadia Whittome describing the plans as “dystopian” and “shameful,” Conservatives offered a cautious welcome to the measures.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch characterized the proposals as “positive baby steps.” However, she cautioned that unless the UK withdraws from the European Convention on Human Rights, Mahmood’s efforts would be “doomed to fail.”
Badenoch urged the Home Secretary to collaborate with the Conservatives, suggesting their votes might “come in handy” if Labour backbenchers opposed the changes.
In the past year, the government has been compelled to retract certain policies – including welfare cuts and adjustments to the winter fuel payment – following objections from within its own ranks.
Approximately 20 Labour MPs have already criticized the proposals. Whittome, representing Nottingham East, accused the government of “ripping up the rights and protections of people who’ve endured imaginable trauma.”
Tony Vaughan, the MP for Folkestone and Hythe and an immigration lawyer, argued that making refugee status temporary would create a “situation of perpetual limbo and alienation.”
Richard Burgon asserted that the measures were “morally wrong” and would “push away Labour voters.”
“Why not recognize that now rather than in another few months and have to make a U-turn,” the MP for Leeds East questioned.
Other Labour MPs expressed support for Mahmood. Chris Murray told BBC Radio 5 Live that the system must be fair, “otherwise it’ll collapse, and there’s nothing progressive about letting that happen.”
Graham Stringer, MP for Blackley and Middleton South, stated that the Home Secretary was “going down the right track.”
He suggested she would reach a “compromise” with Labour MPs but added, “It might all be for naught if we don’t get out of the European Convention on Human Rights.”
So far this year, 111,800 individuals have sought asylum in the UK – 39% arriving via small boats, while 37% entered through legal channels before claiming asylum.
The government asserts that its plans are designed to reduce the number of individuals entering the UK and increase the removal of those without a legal basis to remain.
The Home Office published details of the changes in a 30-page document, subsequently presented by Mahmood to the House of Commons.
Under the proposals, individuals granted refugee status would only be permitted to remain in the country temporarily, with their status reviewed every 30 months – half the current review period.
Individuals could be returned to their country of origin when it is deemed safe to do so.
The required period of residency in the UK before refugees are eligible to apply for permanent residence would be quadrupled, from five years to 20.
Families refused asylum who have children would be offered incentives to leave, but could face forced removal if they decline voluntary departure.
Asylum seekers with income or assets would be required to contribute to the cost of their stay in the UK.
Mahmood informed MPs that this would “end the absurdity where an asylum seeker receiving £800 a month from his family and an Audi was receiving free housing at the taxpayer’s expense and the courts judged we could do nothing about it.”
Home Office sources have refuted suggestions that asylum seekers might have items of sentimental value, such as wedding rings, confiscated to cover their accommodation costs.
To facilitate the removal of failed asylum seekers, the government intends to modify the application of the European Convention of Human Rights and the Modern Slavery Act.
Mahmood also threatened to suspend visa issuance to individuals from three African nations – Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Namibia – unless those governments improve their cooperation on deportations.
Outlining her plans for capped safe and legal routes, Mahmood stated that voluntary and community organizations would be granted “greater involvement” in receiving and supporting new arrivals.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson welcomed the introduction of new safe and legal routes but accused the Home Secretary of “stoking division by using immoderate language.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage praised Mahmood’s “strong language” and suggested she was auditioning to join his party.
However, he expressed “serious doubts” about the plans’ ability to withstand objections from Labour backbenchers or the European Court of Human Rights.
Enver Solomon of the Refugee Council charity argued that tightening the system would not deter individuals “fleeing for their lives.”
He stated that individuals were not coming to the UK because of asylum rules but because they spoke English or had familial ties or community connections in the country.
“We have those communities because of our historical links and our past history as a big colonial nation,” he added.
The PM sent Shabana Mahmood to run the Home Office precisely so that she would be radical.
The home secretary is set to announce major policy reforms, including a 20-year wait before people granted asylum can apply to settle permanently.
Misshaps of their own making overshadow important things the government has to do, writes Laura Kuenssberg.
Shabana Mahmood is expected to say the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, in major changes to the UK’s asylum and immigration system.
Ministers will announce reforms to the asylum system to reduce pull factors to Britain, the Times report.
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