The plans, inspired by Denmark’s approach, aim to reduce irregular immigration and counter the UK’s far-right.
Published on November 16, 2025
The United Kingdom has announced sharp cuts to protections for asylum seekers and refugees under a new plan aimed at reducing irregular immigration and countering the far-right.
Solutions, models Denmark’s strict asylum systemThe announcement was made late on Saturday as Prime Minister Keir Starr comes under pressure from the growing popularity of the anti-immigrant Reform UK party.
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“I will end the UK’s golden ticket for asylum seekers,” Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood announced in a statement, known by her ministry, calling the new proposals “the biggest overhaul of asylum policy in modern times”.
Mahmood will present the policy in Parliament on Monday.
Meanwhile, the head of the UK’s Refugee Council warned the government that the measures would not deter people from trying to reach the country and called for a rethink.
“They must ensure that refugees who work hard and contribute to Britain can build safe, settled lives and give back to their communities,” Enver Solomon said.
Currently people get refugee status for five years, after which they can apply for permanent residency and eventually citizenship.
Mahmoud’s ministry says it will reduce the length of refugee status to 30 months. That protection would be “regularly reviewed” and refugees would be forced to return to their home countries once deemed safe, it said.
The ministry also said it intends to make refugees Sheltered Wait 20 years before applying for a long-term UK residence permit.
Asylum claims at record high
Asylum Claims in Britain a record high. Polls suggest immigration has overtaken the economy as voters’ biggest concern.
Around 109,343 people claimed asylum in the UK in the year ending March 2025, a 17 per cent rise on the previous year and a 6 per cent rise on the 2002 peak of 103,081.
The Home Office said the reforms would make it less attractive for irregular migrants and refugees to come to the UK and make it easier to remove people already in the country.
The 2005 law will also repeal the statutory legal duty to support asylum seekers, the ministry said. This means housing and weekly financial allowances are no longer guaranteed for asylum seekers.
It will be “discretionary”, meaning the government can refuse aid to any asylum seeker who can work or support themselves, or who has committed crimes.
Starmer, who was elected last year, is under pressure to stop migrants crossing the English Channel Small boats in Francewhich also troubled his Conservative predecessors.
More than 39,000 people, many fleeing conflict, have arrived this year after making the perilous journey – more than in all of 2024 but less than the record set in 2022.
The crossings are helping to boost the popularity of reforms led by firebrand Nigel Farage, who has led Labor by double-digit margins in most opinion polls this year.
More than 100 British charities have written to Mahmoud calling on him to “end the scapegoating of migrants and the ineffective policies that only cause harm”, saying such steps fuel racism and violence.