Shabhana Mahmood defends overhaul of ‘unfair’ asylum system

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has advocated sweeping changes to the UK’s asylum system, telling MPs the current situation is “out of control and unfair”.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Mahmood said: “If we fail to deal with this crisis, we will lead more people down a path that starts with anger and ends with hate.”

According to the plans, refugee status will become temporary, guaranteed housing support for asylum seekers will end and new limited “safe and legal routes” to the UK will be created.

Some Labor MPs raised concerns, with Nadia Whittome branding the plans “dystopian” and “shameful”, but the Conservatives cautiously welcomed the measures.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said the proposals were “positive small steps”. But he warned Mahmood’s efforts would be “doomed to fail” if Britain did not leave the European Convention on Human Rights.

Badenoch called on the Home Secretary to work with the Conservatives and said their vote “could come in handy” if Labor supporters did not back the changes.

Last year the government was forced to backtrack on some of its policies, including welfare cuts and winter fuel payments, after objections from its own MPs.

Nearly 20 Labor MPs have so far criticized the plans. Nottingham East MP Whittome accused the government of “taking away the rights and protections of people who have been subjected to unimaginable trauma”.

Folkestone and Hythe MP and immigration lawyer Tony Vaughan said making refugee status temporary would create a “permanent state of uncertainty and alienation”.

Richard Burgon said the measures were “morally wrong” and would “alien Labor voters”.

The Leeds East MP said: “Why don’t we recognize this now rather than realize it a few months later and make a U-turn?” he said.

Other Labor MPs expressed their support for Mahmood. Chris Murray told BBC Radio 5 Live that the system had to be fair “otherwise it would collapse and there is nothing progressive about allowing that to happen”.

Blackley and Middleton South MP Graham Stringer said the home secretary was “going on the right track”.

He said he would reach a “compromise” with Labor MPs but added: “It could all be in vain if we don’t leave the European Convention on Human Rights.”

Speaking to the BBC later, Mahmood said it was his “moral duty” to change the system.

“If we don’t win this debate… we will lose public support for the asylum system and therefore lose something great in this country.

“I am not prepared to have public support for compromising the asylum system.”

He acknowledged that some Labor MPs had concerns but insisted that “the vast majority of my colleagues agree with me”.

So far this year 111,800 people have sought asylum in the UK; 39% of them arrived on a small boat, while 37% arrived legally before seeking asylum.

The government says its plans aim to reduce the number of people coming to the UK and increase deportations of people who have no legal right to be in the country.

Home Office It was published He published the amendments in a 30-page document, and a few hours later Mahmood presented them to the House of Commons.

Under the proposals, people granted refugee status would be allowed to stay in the country only temporarily and their status would be reviewed every 30 months – half the current period.

People can be sent back to their home countries if it is deemed safe.

The length of time refugees must stay in the UK before being allowed to apply for permanent residence will be quadrupled from five to 20 years.

Families with children whose asylum applications are rejected will be offered incentives to leave, but could be forcibly deported if they refuse to leave voluntarily.

Asylum seekers who have income or assets will need to contribute to the costs of their stay in the UK.

Mahmood told MPs it would “put an end to the nonsense where an asylum seeker who receives £800 a month from his family and an Audi gets free housing at taxpayers’ expense and the courts decide we can’t do anything about it”.

Ministry of Internal Affairs sources rejected suggestions that items of sentimental value, such as wedding rings, could be seized to cover the accommodation costs of asylum seekers.

The government plans to change the way the European Convention on Human Rights and the Modern Slavery Act are implemented to make it easier to deport failed asylum seekers.

Mahmood also threatened to stop issuing visas to people from three African countries – Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo and Namibia – unless those governments improved cooperation on deportations.

Announcing plans for restricted safe and legal routes, Mahmood said there would be “more involvement” in voluntary and community organizations in accepting and supporting new arrivals.

Liberal Democrat home secretary Max Wilkinson welcomed the introduction of new safe and legal routes but accused the home secretary of “inciting division by using extreme language”.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage praised Mahmood’s “strong language” and suggested he would audition to join his party.

But he said he had “serious doubts” that his plans could withstand objections from Labor supporters or the European Court of Human Rights.

Enver Solomon, of the Refugee Council charity, said tightening the system would not stop people “fleeing for their lives”.

He said people came to the UK not because of asylum rules but because they spoke English or had family or community connections in the country.

“We have these communities because of our historical ties and our past history as a major colonial nation,” he added.