On Sunday, November 16, UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood defended plans to drastically reduce protections for refugees and end automatic benefits for asylum seekers, insisting that irregular migration was “tearing the UK apart.”
However, the proposals were criticised as “harsh and unnecessary” by the Refugee Council charity and are likely to face opposition from left-wing lawmakers within Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s embattled Labour government.
The home secretary told BBC television:
This is a moral mission for me, because I can see illegal migration tearing our country apart; it is dividing communities.
Currently, those granted refugee status receive it for five years, after which they can apply for indefinite leave to remain and eventually citizenship. However, Mahmood’s ministry said it would cut the length of refugee status to 30 months.
The ministry also said that it intended to require refugees who are granted asylum to wait 20 years before applying for long-term residency in the UK, up from the current five years.
It also announced plans to create “new safe and legal routes for genuine refugees” through “capped work and study routes.”
