Overview
- Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood previewed plans to require people who arrive illegally to wait 20 years for permanent settlement, with a 10-year route for those who arrive lawfully.
- Refugee status would become time-limited, initially granted for about 30 months and reviewed every 30 months, with returns required if home countries are later judged safe.
- The statutory duty to provide guaranteed housing and weekly allowances would be scrapped, making support discretionary and withdrawable from people deemed able to work or who break the law.
- Three new capped ‘safe and legal’ routes are planned — expanded community sponsorship, a talent/work route, and a study route — with candidates identified by UN agencies and fast-tracked.
- Ministers cite rising claims and accommodation pressures and say the model draws on Denmark’s tougher approach, while refugee groups warn the changes will prolong uncertainty and harm protections.