Britain’s Labour government is facing accusations of attempting to dramatically expand legal immigration after unveiling plans to create new refugee sponsorship schemes that could eventually bring more than 10,000 additional asylum seekers into Britain each year.
The proposals, announced by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood ahead of next week’s immigration bill, would establish new ‘safe and legal’ routes allowing universities, employers, churches, and community groups to sponsor refugees selected overseas before they travel to the UK.
Although ministers insist the programme will initially be capped, Labour sources told The Guardian that the government ultimately intends to expand the scheme from hundreds to thousands of arrivals each year.
The announcement immediately drew condemnation from Reform UK, whose home affairs spokesman, Zia Yusuf, argued that the government had no democratic mandate to introduce such a policy.
In a statement posted on X, Yusuf claimed Labour intends to import “more than 10,000 asylum seekers” from countries including Sudan and Eritrea—the same nationalities that have featured prominently among illegal Channel crossings.
“Labour has no mandate for this,” Yusuf wrote. “It was not in their manifesto.”
Yusuf argued that successive British governments had ignored repeated public demands for lower immigration, adding: “Enough is enough.”
The Reform spokesman also warned incoming prime minister Andy Burnham that a future Reform government would repeal the scheme.
Mahmood, however, presented the policy as part of a broader overhaul intended to combine stricter border controls with expanded legal pathways for refugees.
The new routes will allow approved organisations to sponsor refugees identified in cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Sponsors will be expected to help arrivals find accommodation and employment, while the Home Office says applicants will undergo security and background checks before entering Britain.
Applications for a university sponsorship route are expected to open later this year, with the first arrivals scheduled for 2027. A separate employer-sponsored refugee route is due to launch next year.
The government has not disclosed how many people will ultimately be admitted through the schemes, saying only that they will begin on a low base before expanding. However, Labour sources told The Guardian that ministers intend eventually to bring in thousands of refugees annually once the system is fully established.
The Conservatives also criticised the proposal. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp argued that expanding legal migration routes would do little to deter illegal Channel crossings, saying many migrants who failed to qualify under the scheme would still attempt to reach Britain by small boat.
Alongside the new refugee routes, Mahmood’s immigration bill will tighten asylum rules by restricting some human rights appeals, narrowing the definition of family members who can bring claims, removing modern slavery protections from certain foreign criminals, and making it easier to deport foreign offenders.
According to The Guardian, the refugee sponsorship plans are also intended to shore up support among Labour’s Left, where many MPs have criticised Mahmood’s wider asylum reforms as too restrictive ahead of Andy Burnham’s expected move into Downing Street next month.
The announcement comes amid mounting concern over migrant crime in Britain. On Thursday, a man born in the Central African Republic was arrested and charged with murder following the discovery of the body of a two-year-old girl in Chertsey, south east England.
Kevin Kerjean, 31, was also charged with the rape and sexual assault of a child under 13.
