UK to limit protections for refugees in biggest overhaul in asylum system

Britain will drastically reduce protections for refugees under plans to overhaul its asylum system, the Labour government said.

The measures were announced on Saturday as Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces mounting pressure over irregular migration in the face of soaring support for the hard right.

"I'll end the UK's golden ticket for asylum seekers," Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood declared in a statement. 

Presently, those given refugee status have it for five years, after which they can apply for indefinite leave to remain and eventually citizenship.

But Mahmood's ministry, known as the Home Office, said it would cut the length of refugee status to 30 months.

That protection will be "regularly reviewed", and refugees will be forced to return to their home countries once they are deemed safe, it added.

The ministry also said that it intended to make those refugees who are granted asylum wait 20 years before applying to be allowed to live in the UK long-term, instead of the current five.

The Home Office called the proposals the "largest overhaul of asylum policy in modern times".

Inspiration from Denmark, Europe

The Home Office said its reforms would be inspired not only by Denmark but also by other European countries, where refugee status is temporary, support is conditional, and integration is expected.

"The UK will now match and in some areas exceed these standards," the department said.

Earlier this year, a delegation of senior Home Office officials visited Copenhagen to study Denmark's approach to asylum, where migrants are only granted temporary residence permits, usually for two years, and must reapply when these expire.

If the Social Democratic Danish government deems their home country safe, asylum seekers can be repatriated. The path to citizenship has also been lengthened and made more difficult, with stricter rules for family reunification.

Among other measures, the 2016 legislation allows Danish authorities to seize asylum seekers' valuables to offset support costs.

The UK currently grants asylum to those who can prove they are unsafe at home, with refugee status given to those deemed to be at risk of persecution. The status lasts for five years, after which they can apply for permanent settlement if they meet certain criteria.

Denmark has been known for its tough immigration policies for over a decade, which the Home Office says have reduced asylum claims to a 40-year low and resulted in the removal of 95 percent of rejected applicants.

2025 record

Starmer, elected last summer, is under pressure to stop migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats from France, something that also troubled his Conservative predecessors.

More than 39,000 people, many fleeing conflict, have arrived this year following such dangerous journeys — more than for the whole of 2024 but lower than the record set in 2022.

The crossings are helping fuel the popularity of Reform, led by firebrand Nigel Farage, which has led Labour by double-digit margins in opinion polls for most of this year.

Asylum claims in Britain are at a record high, with some 111,000 applications made in the year to June 2025, according to official figures.

More than 100 British charities wrote to Mahmood, urging her to "end the scapegoating of migrants and performative policies that only cause harm", saying such steps are fuelling racism and violence.

Polls suggest immigration has overtaken the economy as voters' top concern. Some 109,343 people claimed asylum in the UK in the year ending March 2025, a 17 percent rise on the previous year and 6 percent above the 2002 peak of 103,081.

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Source: TRT