Refugees to face 20-year wait to settle permanently under asylum reforms
People granted asylum in the UK will have to wait 20 years before they can apply to settle permanently, according to plans to be announced by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on Monday.
The biggest change in asylum policy came as the government tried to reduce small boat crossings and asylum requests.
Under the plans, people who are granted asylum will only be allowed to stay in the UK temporarily, their refugee status will be reviewed regularly, and those whose home countries are deemed safe will then be told to return.
Currently, refugee status lasts for five years, after which people can apply to stay indefinitely.
Now the home secretary wants to reduce the start-up period from five to two and a half years; After this period, refugee status will be reviewed regularly.
But it plans to significantly extend the time required to obtain permanent residence in the UK from five to 20 years.
Mahmood told the Sunday Times that the reforms were “essentially designed to tell people: don’t come to this country as an illegal immigrant, don’t get on a boat”.
“Illegal immigration is tearing our country apart,” he continued, adding that it was the government’s duty to “unite our country.”
“If we don’t solve this, I think our country will become much more divided,” he told the newspaper.
The policy has been copied from Denmark, where a government led by centre-left Social Democrats presides over one of Europe’s toughest asylum and immigration systems.
In Denmark, refugees are usually granted two-year temporary residence permits, and when these permits expire they must re-apply for asylum.
And Mahmood’s new approach is sure to face opposition from some Labor MPs.
Max Wilkinson, the Liberal Democrats’ home affairs spokesman, said it was “right for the government to look for new ways to fix the disorganized asylum system created by the Conservatives”.
He added that Labor “must not delude itself that these measures are an alternative to speedy processing of claims so that we can eliminate those who have no right to be here”.
Refugee Council Chief Executive Enver Solomon described the government’s plans as “drastic and unnecessary” and said they “will not deter people who have been persecuted, tortured or seen family members killed in brutal wars”.
