The rollout of new safe and legal routes for refugees will begin in the autumn, the Home Secretary has announced, ahead of wider reforms to the immigration system to be delivered through the Immigration and Asylum Bill that was confirmed in the King’s Speech.
This will include reforming human rights laws to preserve protection for those in need, while bearing down on abuse of the asylum system.
The UK has a proud history of offering sanctuary to refugees fleeing war and persecution. However, illegal Channel crossings and abuse of laws intended for those in peril are eroding public confidence in refugee protection and human rights protections.
The reforms will restore order to the system - creating new legal pathways for those who need protection, preventing abuse of legal protections, and rebuilding public consent in our asylum system.
Changes include
Opening applications for organisations to sponsor refugees from this autumn, inspired by the successful Canadian model.
Restoring public confidence in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) Article 8 by legislating to make it fit for modern migration challenges and aligning application in the UK with the European Court in Strasbourg, after a period when UK courts had expanded domestic interpretation of ECHR Article 8.
Reforming the modern slavery system to strengthen protection for those in genuine need, while rooting out abuse.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said:
Britain has always offered sanctuary to those fleeing war and persecution.
But this system only survives if the public trusts that it is fair, controlled, and not open to abuse.
I will open new legal routes for genuine refugees, while closing loopholes that have been too often abused. My goal is simple: to ensure we have an asylum system not just today, but for generations to come
Safe and legal routes
A new community sponsorship scheme will allow communities to sponsor refugees to resettle in their area, taking responsibility for housing, integration and supporting them into work.
Currently a small number of refugees are sponsored in communities under the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) but the vast majority are supported by councils.
The named community sponsorship model will sit outside the UKRS and operate at a much higher capacity once established, something the voluntary sector has long supported.
Meanwhile, trusted universities will be able to directly sponsor refugees through a study route. Applications will open this autumn for organisations to sponsor refugees, with the first arrivals in autumn 2027.
This model will form the future of safe and legal routes. The Home Office will work with ‘lead sponsors’ to accredit them and these will need to be organisations.
A refugee work route is expected to open next year, allowing employers to sponsor refugees.
The community sponsorship model draws on proven international experience. Canada’s scheme has operated since 1979 and has successfully resettled almost 400,000 refugees. Under the Canadian system, 70% of sponsored refugees find work within a year - 30% higher than those resettled through government schemes.
Community sponsorship builds on the UK’s own Homes for Ukraine scheme, which showed the British public’s willingness to open their arms to those fleeing danger.
More than 270,000 Ukrainians have been welcomed into local communities since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The numbers will start small at first but build over time as public confidence is restored in Britain’s immigration system.
The Home Office will retain full control over who can act as sponsors and all arrivals will be subject to strict biometric, criminality and health checks.
Refugee status will be determined in partnership with the UNHCR to ensure the routes can be launched and managed effectively.
ECHR reform
Membership of the ECHR is firmly in our national interest, especially at a time of geopolitical instability. It upholds a rules-based system which supports cooperation with European partners to tackle rising migration, illegal people smuggling, and pressure on asylum systems through intelligence sharing, law enforcement and returns agreements.
The government led efforts at Strasbourg to secure a political declaration at European level, agreeing reform is needed to tackle modern migration challenges.
But reform is needed to prevent human rights laws being exploited by those with no right to be in the UK.
Article 8, the right to private and family life, is intended as a safeguard. Yet with 77,000 applications granted in the past year alone, it is having a significant impact on our ability to enforce the Immigration Rules and tackle illegal migration.
As confirmed in the King’s Speech, the Immigration and Asylum Bill will tighten the application of Article 8 by defining “family” as an immediate family member, such as a parent, spouse or child under 18 except in exceptional circumstances.
It will prevent illegal migrants, including dangerous foreign criminals, from abusing the system by relying on distant family relationships to prevent removal.
For example, a domestic abuser from Poland with a string of convictions for violence was allowed to stay on the basis he was a ‘father figure’ to his nephew.
A new, tougher test will make clear that deporting foreign national offenders is in the public interest and should only be blocked in the most exceptional circumstances.
Entry clearance applications which rely on Article 8 applications will now also have to be made in-country by the UK-based sponsor, not the overseas family member, so decisions focus on the rights of those within the UK.
This will mark a fundamental reset to restore public confidence and put the safety of the British people first. It will also ensure UK application is back in line with the Strasbourg court.
Modern slavery
Modern slavery is a barbaric crime, and the government is committed to tackling it in all its forms, ensuring survivors get the support they need to recover.
Our reforms will strengthen protections for victims - especially vulnerable children - of these awful crimes. They will ensure every trafficked and exploited child receives a dedicated independent guardian to support their safeguarding and recovery.
To crack down on exploitation, we will also strengthen civil orders so law enforcement can better restrict offenders’ movements, work and activities.
We will also raise standards in businesses and public bodies, who must identify and tackle abuse in their supply chains or face fines of up to £1 million.
While strengthening protections where they are required, we will also tighten areas where the modern slavery system has been abused by those vexatiously seeking to block their legitimate removal from the UK.
New Home Office data suggests that from a sample of charter flights operated last year, over three-quarters (76%) of modern slavery claims made by individuals due to be removed on those flights were made in the hours before departure.
Changes to tighten the Modern Slavery Act and bear down on abuse will include:
- removing modern slavery protection and support for any foreign national who has committed a crime and received a custodial sentence - scrapping the previous 12-month threshold
- rejecting claims where there is evidence of false documentation
- rejecting last?minute modern slavery claims made after removal action has begun, where there were opportunities to raise a claim earlier, unless there is a valid reason
These reforms will create a fair asylum system that restores the confidence of the British people: providing sanctuary and giving support to those in need, while bearing down on abuse that erodes public confidence in the asylum system.