Home Secretary to announce ‘sweeping changes’ to asylum system

The Home Secretary has vowed to “restore order” to the British asylum system with “sweeping changes” modelled on the approach taken by Denmark.

Shabana Mahmood will lay out a series of reforms to the asylum system in the House of Commons on Monday aimed at making Britain a less attractive destination for illegal migrants, and making it easier to remove them from the UK.

Billed as the largest overhaul of asylum policy in modern times, tightening British asylum controls will mean the UK is no longer an international outlier, according to the Home Office.

It described Britain’s current offer to asylum seekers as more generous than those of its near neighbours on the European continent, where controls are being bolstered.

Ms Mahmood is set to revoke the statutory legal duty to provide asylum-seeker support, introduced in 2005 via EU law.

This means housing and weekly allowances will no longer be guaranteed for asylum seekers, in a bid to lessen the incentive for migrants crossing the English Channel to claim refuge in the UK.

Those who have a right to work in the UK and can support themselves, but do not, could also be denied housing and benefits because of the change.

Law-breaking asylum seekers could also have such support removed.

The Home Secretary said: “This country has a proud tradition of welcoming those fleeing danger, but our generosity is drawing illegal migrants across the Channel.

“The pace and scale of migration is placing immense pressure on communities.

“This week, I will set out the most sweeping changes to our asylum system in a generation. We will restore order and control to our borders.”

The Home Secretary meanwhile told The Sunday Times newspaper the changes are “designed to essentially say to people: do not come to this country as an illegal migrant, do not get on a boat”.

Ministers have learned lessons from the strict asylum approach taken by Denmark, where a government of the same political stripe as Labour has managed to remove incentives drawing people to the country, and has increased deportations of illegal migrants.

Senior Home Office officials were dispatched to Copenhagen, the Danish capital, to learn about the country’s asylum policy earlier this year.

The country has reduced the number of asylum applications to the lowest number in 40 years and successfully removed 95% of rejected asylum seekers.

At the same time, Denmark remains a signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights, an international treaty which has drawn the ire of some on the right of politics, who say it hampers efforts to deport illegal migrants.

Denmark’s tighter rules on family reunions are also being looked at.

Elsewhere in her statement, the Home Secretary is set to announce that refugee status will become temporary and subject to regular review under the planned changes.

Refugees will be removed as soon as their home countries are deemed safe.

Under current rules, those granted refugee status have it for five years and can then apply for indefinite leave to remain and get on a route to citizenship.

The Sunday Times reported that the shake-up will also include extending the wait time for refugees to apply for permanent settlement.

The Observer newspaper meanwhile reported that new safe and legal routes will be introduced as a way to cut dangerous journeys in small boats across the English Channel.

Local communities will be able to sponsor individual refugees in a similar model to the Homes for Ukraine scheme launched where Britons hosted those in need in their homes.

Other changes expected to be announced on Monday include requiring judges to prioritise public safety over migrants’ rights to a family life, or the risk that they will face “inhuman” treatment if returned to their home country, the Daily Telegraph newspaper has reported.

Ms Mahmood has insisted, over recent days, that Labour has spearheaded “record levels” of immigration raids and arrests, and that nearly 50,000 people with no right to be in the UK had been returned.

But, at the same time, more migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats.

Some 39,075 people have arrived in the UK after making the journey so far this year, according to the latest Home Office figures.

The arrivals have already passed the number for the whole of 2024 (36,816) and 2023 (29,437), but the number is still below the total at this point in 2022 (39,929).

Meanwhile, the Government’s pilot scheme with France aimed at deterring people from making the dangerous crossing, has removed 113 people to the continent since it was introduced in August, while 92 have arrived in the UK under the deal’s approved safe route.

For the Tories, shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “The Government trumpet their removal numbers. But only a tiny fraction of these crossed by small boat, amounting to just 5% of small boat arrivals in that time. And 83% of the numbers returned were voluntary.

“Whilst some of these new measures are welcome, they stop well short of what is really required and some are just yet more gimmicks – like the previous ‘smash the gangs’ gimmick.”

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Max Wilkinson said it was “right the Government looks at new ways to fix the disorderly asylum system created by the Conservatives”.

He added: “And looking to Europe is the right thing to do, because we had more control over our immigration system before Brexit.

“But the Labour Party shouldn’t kid itself that these measures are an alternative to processing claims quickly so we can remove those with no right to be here.”

Enver Solomon, chief executive at the Refugee Council, meanwhile described the Government’s plans as “harsh and unnecessary”, and claimed they “won’t deter people who have been persecuted, tortured or seen family members killed in brutal wars”.

He added: “Instead, they are more likely to force them into destitution and sleeping rough on the streets.”