HOME SECRETARY Shabana Mahmood defended her immigration stance on Thursday despite criticism from charities and concern within the ruling Labour Party that the approach could push away left-wing voters.
Mahmood said asylum reforms were “firm but fair” and aimed at “restoring order and control” to the UK’s borders.
She announced that asylum seekers who break the law or work illegally will be removed from government-funded accommodation and lose their support payments.
The move is part of a wider overhaul of migration rules announced late last year. The policy is modelled on Denmark’s asylum system and aims to reduce irregular migration to the United Kingdom.
Mahmood said the reforms would restore control while also opening new safe and legal routes for migrants.
However, Amnesty International criticised the latest measure, calling it a “punitive blow” that “risks forcing people into destitution, homelessness and exploitation while they wait for their claims to be decided”.
The reforms are also seen as an attempt to counter support for Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage. The party has led opinion polls for a year, partly due to concern over migrants crossing from northern France to England on small boats.
At the same time, critics say the policy may be costing Labour support among progressive voters. The Green Party of England and Wales won a local election in a traditional Labour area last week.
Mahmood said there was a middle ground between Farage’s “nightmare pulling up the drawbridge and shutting out the world” and Green Party leader Zack Polanski’s “fairy tale of open borders”.
A separate reform making refugee status temporary, including for accompanied children, came into force this week.
Under the change, refugee status will be reviewed every 30 months. Refugees will be required to return to their home countries once those countries are considered safe.
They will also have to wait 20 years before applying for permanent residency, instead of the current five.
Earlier this week, Mahmood also announced that the government would stop issuing education visas to nationals from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan.
The government said asylum applications from students from those countries had increased. It added that almost 135,000 asylum seekers had entered the UK through legal routes since 2021.
(With inputs from agencies)
