Home Office to introduce new asylum routes to UK
The Home Office will offer new “limited safe and legal” routes for asylum seekers to arrive in the UK later this year.
The department said it would allow organizations such as universities, community groups and businesses to sponsor refugees applying to come to the UK, a model modeled on Canada’s asylum system.
As well as the new asylum route, the government said it would continue to make changes to how human rights and modern slavery laws apply to asylum applications, which would eliminate “vexatious” claims.
Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood said the new system would protect “genuine refugees” and “close loopholes that are often abused”.
He said: “Britain has always offered refuge to those fleeing war and persecution.
“But this system can only survive if the public trusts that it is fair, controlled and not open to abuse.”
The announcement comes as the home secretary prepares to introduce the immigration bill to the House of Commons; here some Labor MPs may oppose some elements of the law.
The UK currently has a relatively small number of refugees supported by communities under the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), but the Home Office said the “vast majority” of refugees are supported by local councils.
Arrivals by illegal small boats have also shaken public confidence in the asylum system, while the government is under pressure to reduce the number of people housed in hotels at taxpayers’ expense.
The new routes will allow a greater number of organisations, including “trusted universities”, to support arrivals.
The department said the new scheme would “shape the future” of the UK’s asylum system and “operate at a much higher capacity” than the UKRS when fully established.
A refugee work route that will allow employers to sponsor refugees is expected to open next year, the Home Office said.
Applications for the university route will open later this year, with first arrivals in 2027.
The government did not say how many people would be allowed to arrive via the new routes, but said it would be capped and start from a low base.
It was also stated that the Ministry of Internal Affairs will check which organizations can sponsor an asylum seeker and all applicants will be subject to strict checks.
The department said it would also respond to fraudulent claims while opening new routes to the UK for asylum seekers.
The government has already confirmed that it will reform the way the right to family life under the European Convention on Human Rights is implemented; the government said it was being used unfairly to appeal rejected applications.
The Home Office is also making changes to the way the Modern Slavery Act is enforced; These include removing the protection rights of any foreign national who has been sentenced to prison or where there is evidence that the documents are forged.
This latest announcement on UK asylum policy comes as the home secretary clashes with under-secretary Mike Tapp.
He used a Times article to argue that foreign care workers should be exempt from the home secretary’s plans to change visa rules for immigrants already living in the UK in the upcoming immigration bill.
Mahmood demanded Tapp be sacked but was rejected by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
