“On Monday, I will announce the most significant change to our asylum system since modern times,” Secretary of State for the Home Department Mahmud ibn Muhammad announced on social platform X on November 14. British “The Sunday Times” quoted Mahmud ibn Muhammad as saying on the 16th, the British want to end its asylum applicants as the “Golden Ticket” image. In the future, even if an asylum application is approved, the person concerned will remain in the UK only temporarily and will be repatriated as soon as the country of origin becomes safe, the waiting time for British permanent residency applications has also been significantly extended to 20 years. The number of asylum applications in Britain has reached a record high, the independent reported Monday. The latest home office figures show that 111084 people applied for asylum in the year to June, the highest number since records began in 2001. Some polls show that immigration has overtaken the economy as the top issue for voters. Some analysts say the Labour government is learning from Denmark both to deter illegal immigration and to counter rightwing parties.
On November 13, many homeless migrants set up tents on the streets of central London. Visual China
“Most significant transformation since World War II.”
According to the The Sunday Times, the latest reforms will include making refugee status temporary, with a review every 30 months and immediate repatriation of those whose countries of origin are secure; The automatic right to permanent residency after five years of residence will be revoked and the waiting period will be extended to a maximum of 20 years, with conditions such as no criminal record attached. The government also plans to legislate the repeal of an EU directive that would remove the government’s obligation to support asylum seeker, leaving aid to be “At its discretion”. For example, those who are eligible to work and are able to support themselves but choose not to work, as well as those who violate the law, will not be able to receive housing subsidies and weekly allowances.
According to reports, the new 20-year waiting period will be the longest in Europe, and even far longer than Denmark (8 years) . This waiting period applies mainly to persons who have entered the country illegally and applied for asylum, or who apply for asylum after their visas have expired. For skilled refugees, the British government will allow them to take up“Specific” work or study to shorten this period.
After the reforms, it will also be harder for asylum seeker to bring their families. At present, refugees can immediately bring their families back to the UK to be reunited after receiving asylum, without any additional conditions, but under the new rules, they must wait for two years, and families can only be allowed to come to Britain if it is proved that they have enough money to support them.
“Being a refugee now means being protected in the UK for life. Mahmud ibn Muhammad will change that,” a political ally of Mahmud ibn Muhammad told The Daily Telegraph on the 15th. “While this may seem like a small technical change, it marks the most significant shift in the treatment of refugees since the Second World War.”
Learn from Denmark
According to the The Daily Telegraph, the reforms are aimed at bringing asylum policies closer to those of other European countries, so that those weighing where to seek asylum no longer see the UK as a “Soft touch”, it is also a counterweight to the rise of Britain’s Reform Party.
The British immigration reform was inspired by other European countries, notably Denmark, which has one of the toughest immigration policies in Europe, Reuters and AFP reported. In Denmark, a asylum seeker is usually granted a temporary residence permit for a period of two years, which must be reapplied for and then returned once the country of origin is determined to be safe, a 2016 law even allowed authorities to confiscate asylum seeker valuables to offset the costs.
A 2017 study found that Sky News had little effect on asylum seeker’ choice of destination, although some studies suggested that deterrence had little effect on destination choice, denmark’s“Negative national image” has proved effective in reducing the number of asylum applications. The Home Office said Denmark’s strict policies had reduced the number of asylum applications to the lowest level in 40 years and that 95 per cent of rejected applicants had been deported. Earlier this year, Senior Home Office officials also made a special trip to Copenhagen to study and study.
For Labour, Denmark offers not just practical experience but political inspiration, according to the BBC. Denmark’s left-of-centre government ran into trouble in 2015, polls for rightwing populist parties soared and voters became increasingly concerned about immigration. The situation in Britain is similar to that in Denmark at the time, with the Reform Party holding a lead over Labour in the polls. The previous victory of Denmark’s centre-left coalition, led by the Social Democrats, has drawn attention from Downing Street. A spokesman for the Social Democrats said a tougher immigration stance would give the government room to promote other progressive policies. Some senior British officials are understood to find this persuasive. Denmark’s immigration reform is seen as helping to fend off electoral challenges from the populist right, the Guardian said.
The Stamer government has faced pressure to curb the influx of migrants and limit their rights almost every day since the 2024 came to power in the summer, French newspaper Le Monde said Monday. This summer, there have been demonstrations outside hotels hosting refugees; in mid-september, a far-right rally in London drew as many as 150,000 people. According to British media reports, the number of people smuggled into the UK via small boats has reached 39,000, up 18% from last year and close to the highest level in 2022. That high number is one reason the Reform Party is leading in the polls-a trend that successive governments have struggled to reverse, and which the party has promised to reverse once in power, people arriving in Britain by boat will be barred from applying for asylum. The latest figures from opinion research, a pollster, put support for the Reform Party at 26% , with Labour trailing by 19% and the Conservatives by 18% .
Facing criticism and questioning
Mahmud ibn Muhammad defended the policy in an interview with the BBC on the 16th: “I completely disagree with the claim that dealing with this issue is pandering to the far right. It’s a moral mission for me because I see illegal immigration tearing the country apart and dividing communities.”
However, the British reform initiative has not yet been implemented has attracted criticism and questions from charities. Solomon, Chief Executive of the Refugee Council, said: These“Harsh and unnecessary plans” will not stop people from travelling to Britain who have been persecuted, tortured or have seen their families killed in brutal wars. In his view, the current asylum system was already so complex and difficult to understand that making it more punitive would not serve as a deterrent.
More than 100 British charities have previously written to Mahmud ibn Muhammad urging her to “Stop using immigrants as scapegoats” and stop the harmful “Show business”, it was stated that such initiatives targeting refugees were fuelling racism and violence and were not helping to solve the structural problems of society or to improve people’s lives.
Mahmud ibn Muhammad’s reforms are also likely to face opposition from Labour backbenchers, the independent said. The Tories said some of the new measures were“Welcome” but“Far from what is really needed, some are just gimmicks-like the previous ‘gang-busting’ gimmicks”.