Following yesterday’s announcement by the Home Secretary to radically overhaul the UK asylum system, we condemn in the strongest terms the proposals made.
The scale and scope of the measures announced are abhorrent and represent a catastrophic threat to the right to refugee protection.
What is being proposed?
The proposals include extending the period it takes for a person with refugee status to be granted indefinite leave to remain (ILR) from 5 years to 20 years, with a review of status every 2.5 years, with the explicit intention of removing people from the UK to their home country if it is deemed safe by the Government to do so at that time.
A new appeals system will be put in place, overseen by a new body, and the legal process of multiple appeals will be replaced with one consolidated appeal. Individuals whose cases are determined to have little chance of success will be accelerated. Families who have been refused asylum, including those with children, will face enforced return (deportation).
The Government also plans to remove the statutory duty to provide accommodation and financial support to individuals seeking asylum who would otherwise be destitute. A discretionary power to offer support will be restored. In practice this is set to mean, for example, that where a person has permission to work but does not (very few individuals are permitted to work), the Home Office will deny financial support and accommodation.
It was also announced, in the final and shortest section of the policy paper, that capped ‘safe and legal’ routes will be introduced. Refugee sponsorship (Homes for Ukraine being a recent example) will become the primary framework for most of the UK Government’s refugee resettlement efforts, with voluntary and community sector organisations expected to play a significant role. A capped route for refugee and displaced students to study in the UK will be introduced, with explicit reference to those individuals returning to their home countries when it is safe to do so. A further capped route for skilled refugees and displaced people to come to the UK will also be introduced. It is intended that those arriving on reformed resettlement routes will be placed on the 10-year route to settlement.
What will these proposals mean?
The proposals set out by the Government this week are incredibly alarming because they represent an unprecedented erosion of refugee protection rights. We are particularly disturbed that this Government believes it is acceptable to make people who have been granted refugee status wait for 20 years before they can indefinitely settle in this country and with the constant threat of removal looming over them. Not only does this mean that people will be unable to fully integrate or feel any sense of true belonging within their communities - with likely more restrictions and limitations on them in terms of access to secure employment and housing - but it will also have a significant and detrimental impact on people’s mental and physical health.
We have already seen this through our work at Boaz for people who, having often waited for many years to be granted refugee status, go on to feel a profound sense of loss for the years of their lives wasted and the opportunities lost.
It is unthinkable that this Government will forcibly remove families, including children. We already see in our work at Boaz the long and lasting trauma that individuals carry from their experiences that led to them seeking asylum, the journeys to safety that have ensued, and the traumatic nature of the UK asylum system itself. In recent times this has often been compounded by the trauma of racism from individuals who have frankly been emboldened by an ever-hardening and disgusting political rhetoric.
These proposals will push ever more people into homelessness and destitution where they will face ever greater risks of exploitation and abuse. We know that this and previous governments have been unable to significantly clear the backlog of asylum claims and shortening leave to remain for people to 2.5 years, as well as an accelerated appeals process, is likely to lead to greater risk of failure points and more destitution among people seeking asylum.
What now?
It is hard not to look at these proposals and determine that this Government believes that the lives of people who come here in search of safety are worth less than other people’s lives. It is also hard not to look at these proposals and determine that they have been created with the appeasement of far right agitators in mind. We simply cannot allow the humanity of people to be diminished.
Policies that treat people as temporary do not heal divisions. They fuel them. Undermining international law in acts of performative cruelty only feeds the lie that people trying to make a life for themselves in the UK are outsiders, rather than future colleagues, neighbours and friends.
We stand in solidarity with all those in our communities who are fearful and frightened right now. We will fight for the protection of refugee rights and invite all who believe in this principle to stand alongside us.
