UK plans to slash refugee protections in review of asylum policies

The UK will sharply reduce protections for refugees and end automatic benefits for asylum seekers, the Labor government announced on Saturday night, under new plans aimed at reducing irregular immigration and countering the far right.

The measures, modeled on Denmark’s strict asylum system, were announced as Prime Minister Keir Starmer comes under pressure from the growing popularity of the anti-immigrant Reform UK party.

“I will end the UK’s golden ticket for asylum seekers,” Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said in a statement.

But the head of Britain’s Refugee Council warned the government that the measures would not deter people from trying to reach Britain and urged it to rethink the situation.

Currently, those granted refugee status have it for five years, after which they can apply for an indefinite residence permit and, eventually, citizenship.

But Mahmood’s ministry, known as the Interior Ministry, said it would reduce the duration of refugee status to 30 months.

That protection will be “reviewed periodically” and refugees will be forced to return to their home countries once they are deemed safe, he added.

The ministry also said it intended to make refugees who were granted asylum wait 20 years before applying to be allowed to live in the UK long-term. Currently, they can do so after five years.

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

The Home Office called the new proposals, which Mahmood will present in parliament on Monday, as the “biggest overhaul of asylum policy in modern times”.

He said the reforms would make it less attractive for irregular migrants to come to Britain and make it easier to remove those already in the country.

The legal obligation to provide support to asylum seekers, introduced in a 2005 law, would also be revoked, the ministry said.

This means that accommodation and weekly financial benefits would no longer be guaranteed to asylum seekers.

It would be “discretionary,” meaning the government could deny assistance to any asylum seekers who could work or support themselves but did not, or to those who committed crimes.

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

More than 39,000 people, many of them fleeing conflict, have arrived this year after such dangerous journeys: more than in all of 2024, but fewer than the record set in 2022.

The crossovers are helping to boost the popularity of Reform, led by firebrand Nigel Farage, who has led the Labor Party by double-digit margins in opinion polls for most of this year.

The Labor Party is taking inspiration from Denmark’s coalition government, led by the centre-left Social Democrats, which has implemented some of the strictest immigration policies in Europe.

Senior British officials recently visited the Scandinavian country, where successful asylum applications are at their lowest level in 40 years.

Refugees in Denmark are entitled to a one-year renewable residence permit and are encouraged to return home as soon as the authorities deem that safe haven is no longer necessary.

Family reunions are also subject to strict requirements, including a minimum age for both parents, language tests and funding guarantees.

Britain’s Mahmood is also expected to announce a tightening of rules around family gatherings.

Enver Solomon, executive director of the Refugee Council, urged the government to rethink its plans, saying they “will not prevent” the crossings.

“They must ensure that refugees who work hard and contribute to Britain can build safe and stable lives and contribute to their communities,” he said.

More left-wing Labor lawmakers will likely oppose the plans, fearing the party is losing voters to progressive alternatives such as the Greens.