Hostile approach to migrants undermines humanistic values in Britain

 
Britain plans to carry out the most significant reform of its asylum policy in modern times by making refugee status temporary and quadrupling the wait for permanent settlement to 20 years, as the Labour government confronts a “broken” asylum system that has fueled support for right-wing parties, reports CNN.

Currently, refugees in the UK receive a five-year initial period of leave. In the future this will be reduced significantly. Refugees will instead receive 30 months of leave to remain, which can only be renewed if they are still considered in need of protection.According to the latest Home Office figures, 1,069 migrants arrived in the UK in the last seven days.Figures show there have been 10,289 arrivals by small boats since Shabana Mahmood became Home Secretary on 5 September this year.

After a summer of protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers, a mass anti-immigration demonstration in London, and constant criticism from the surging hard-right Reform UK party, Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, announced plans to curb illegal small-boat crossings from France and return refugees to their home countries when it is safe to do so.

“We have a system that is out of control,” Shabana Mahmood told the BBC on Sunday.

“It’s unfair, and it’s putting huge pressure on communities. It is important that we restore order and control to this system, so that we can retain public permission and public confidence in having an asylum system at all.”

The government’s plan, which will be unveiled in full on Monday, has two main prongs. First, ending the “automatic path” to settled status after a refugee has been in Britain for five years. Under the changes, a refugee’s status will now be reviewed every two-and-a-half years during a 20-year wait before they can apply for permanent settlement.

Shabana Mahmood said this measure will upend the “generations-old assumption” that sanctuary provided to refugees can quickly lead to settled status “and all of the rights that go alongside that.”

“If your country becomes safe in the intervening period… you will be returned to your country,” Shabana Mahmood stressed. Those who arrive legally will also face a 10-year pathway to permanent settlement, double the current wait.

Second, housing and weekly allowances will be removed from those who have a right to work and can support themselves but choose not to. Those who break the law will also have their support withdrawn. Shabana Mahmood said: “It is not fair if British citizens and long-term residents in this country have to follow one set of rules and comply, and another group of people – who also have the right to work – get away with not complying.”