Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has unveiled radical reforms to the asylum system, including a crackdown on family-based deportation appeals and new capped safe and legal routes for refugees to be sponsored by universities, businesses and community groups.
The changes, announced on Friday night and introduced to parliament on Tuesday, aim to restore public confidence in a system Mahmood said had been “too often abused”. “Britain has always offered sanctuary to those fleeing war and persecution,” she said. “But this system only survives if the public trusts that it is fair, controlled, and not open to abuse.”
“Mahmood restricts family deportation appeals and modern slavery claims while unveiling capped refugee sponsorship routes.”
The legislation restricts the use of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which safeguards the right to private and family life. Under the new rules, family is defined narrowly as a parent, spouse or child under 18, except in exceptional circumstances. Asylum seekers who claim they need to stay to be with a family member must live with that person; if they do not live with a child, they must show a genuine parental relationship. The bill also says that when a foreign national is in the UK without leave to remain or in breach of visa conditions, “no weight” should be given to any private life or family they have built in Britain.
The Home Office cited the example of a domestic abuser from Poland with a string of violent convictions who was allowed to stay on the basis of his relationship with his nephew as an abuse of the system.
Separately, the government is clamping down on modern slavery claims that it says are used to frustrate deportations. Any foreign national who has committed a crime and been sent to prison will not be eligible for modern slavery support. Claims will also be rejected if there is evidence of false documentation or if they are made after efforts to deport the applicant have already started. Home Office data from a sample of charter flights in 2025 found that 76% of modern slavery claims by individuals due to be removed were made in the hours before their departure.
Mubeen Bhutta, director of policy at the British Red Cross, said the reforms “will make it harder for refugee families to be together and create more uncertainty for people who have already faced unimaginable trauma”.
The new sponsorship route, modelled on Canada’s community sponsorship scheme, will allow organisations such as “trusted universities” and churches to sponsor refugees. Canada’s scheme has resettled almost 400,000 refugees since 1979, with 70% finding work within a year — 30% higher than those resettled through government schemes, according to the Home Office. The UK already runs a similar but smaller programme, the UK Resettlement Scheme, but the Home Office said the “vast majority” of refugees are supported by local councils.
Mahmood is attempting to shore up support for her immigration bill before Andy Burnham’s expected rise to prime minister. The bill is set to go before the Commons next week, and its more hardline elements could face opposition from some Labour MPs. The Conservatives said no extra people should be allowed in until illegal immigration is stopped, while Reform UK said it would reverse the scheme if elected.
The reforms also require refugees to pay back £10,000 to cover their own housing and financial support once they start work, mirroring the student-loan structure. Under changes announced earlier this year, refugees will receive only temporary protection and must wait twice as long to gain permanent residency, a move inspired by Denmark’s system.