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Europe’s refugee crisis
WorldEurope

UK toughens asylum policy as anti-immigration sentiment rises

Policy overhaul seeks greater control over who can remain in Britain as tens of thousands of people claim asylum

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Migrants in Gravelines, northern France, walk in the water to board a small boat in an attempt to reach Britain. Photo: AP
Reuters

Britain on Monday said it would make refugee status temporary and speed up the deportation of those who arrive illegally, in a major overhaul aimed at stemming the rise of the populist Reform UK party and tackling abuse of the current system.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood outlined changes to how the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) should be interpreted by UK courts to give the government greater control over who can remain in Britain.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, said Britain’s current asylum regime “is a significant pull factor”, was more permissive than other countries in Europe and was not designed to deal with the large number of asylum seekers moving across the globe.
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In what the centre-left Labour government says is the most sweeping asylum policy overhaul of modern times, Mahmood announced changes that include quadrupling to 20 years the time refugees will have to wait to settle permanently.

Britain’s Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Photo: BBC via AFP
Britain’s Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Photo: BBC via AFP

The government also threatened visa bans on Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo unless those countries accepted the return of illegal migrants and criminals.

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