UK toughens asylum rules to discourage migration
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Migrants picked up at sea while attempting to cross the English Channel being escorted off a UK Border Force boat upon arrival in Ramsgate, in south-east England.
PHOTO: AFP
LONDON – The United Kingdom’s overhaul of its asylum programme takes effect on March 2, the Home Office announced, with the new rules drastically cutting protections for refugees and their children.
Under the reforms, refugee status for adults and their accompanying children will be reviewed every 30 months.
“ Refugee status will become temporary
After 30 months, “refugees with a continuing need of sanctuary will have their protection renewed, while those whose countries are now deemed safe will be expected to return home”.
The overhaul includes an exception for unaccompanied minors, who will still receive protected status for a period of five years “while the government considers the appropriate long-term policy for this group”.
The overhaul was announced in November 2025
“We must also ensure our asylum system is not creating pull factors that draw people on dangerous journeys across the world, fuelling and funding the human traffickers,” she said in the Home Office statement.
The tougher stance has been seen as an attempt to claw back surging support for firebrand Nigel Farage’s hard-right Reform UK party.
But charities and lawmakers from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s centre-left Labour party have slammed the changes, arguing that the new rules will uproot refugees who settle in Britain.
Other proposed changes, including making refugees wait 20 years – up from the current five – before they can apply for permanent residency, will require parliamentary approval.
The British government said it had taken inspiration from Denmark, which has driven asylum applications to their lowest level in 40 years after toughening its immigration stance.
More than 110,000 people, many fleeing conflict, claimed asylum in the UK in the year ended September 2025, which was 13 per cent more than in the previous year and 7 per cent more than the previous peak of 103,081 in 2002, according to a Home Office report released in November 2025.
The top five countries whose nationals form the largest number of people claiming asylum were Pakistan, Eritrea, Iran, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
While asylum claims in Britain reached a record high, the number of refusals surged, and approvals at the initial stage climbed slightly in 2025 compared with in 2024. AFP
