The home secretary has announced major changes to the UK’s asylum system.
Modelled on the policies of Denmark, Shabana Mahmood hopes her proposals will make the country less attractive to illegal migrants and make it easier to remove them.
Tentatively welcomed by the Tories and Reform UK, but sounding alarm bells among some of her Labour colleagues, what exactly is being proposed?
Refugee status
In a document outlining the changes, the government warns being granted refugee status “is to essentially receive the ability to live in this country, forever” – and must change to “reflect our changing times”.
Refugee status will become temporary and subject to review every two and a half years under a “core protection” offer, way down from five years of initial right to remain currently offered.
Anyone granted refugee status will be removed as soon as their home countries are deemed safe, while the wait for permanent status will be quadrupled to 20 years.
Read more from Sky News:
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Safe and legal routes
Refugee charities often claim the reason so many people cross the Channel in small boats is because there are not enough safe and legal routes asylum seekers can take to the UK.
The government has said it will introduce new routes. For those arriving on these for work and study, they could be offered long-term status in 10 years, subject to consultation.
Local communities will be able to sponsor individual refugees granted asylum, like the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
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More families to be deported
The government says a “hesitancy” to deport families can lead to “particularly perverse incentives”, such as people risking bringing their child to the UK illegally on the assumption that this will make them less likely to be removed.
To change this, there will be no automatic right to family reunion for refugees unless they successfully enter the “protection work and study” route and become eligible to sponsor family members.
Children won’t be separated from the parents during deportations, though, it is understood.
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Financial support not guaranteed
Currently, the government has a legal obligation to provide support to asylum seekers who would otherwise be “destitute”, but the document says the government will remove this.
Housing and weekly allowances will be discretionary and no longer be guaranteed.
Those with a right to work in the UK who can support themselves but don’t may be denied housing and benefits, while those with income and assets such as cars will have to contribute to their costs.
A new body to speed up appeals
A new appeals body will be created to speed up the time it takes to decide whether to refuse an asylum application, allowing those who fail to be deported sooner.
It will be staffed by “professionally trained adjudicators”, the document states.
Those whose claims are denied will be limited to one appeal. They can currently make several on different grounds.
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Human rights law changes
The Tories and Reform have advocated leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), something the prime minister – who was a human rights lawyer – is reluctant to do.
But new legislation will be brought forward to ensure the ECHR’s “right to family life” clause is balanced against the public interest, as it has been used to prevent deportations.
Ministers will also work with international partners to reform part of the treaty designed to prohibit torture and inhuman treatment, which they say has allowed foreign criminals to stay in the UK because of how it is interpreted.
