The UK government has announced reforms to its asylum policy based on the Danish model. Assistance is canceled and returns become easier. The government wants to reduce the number of refugees.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor government is under huge pressure due to poor poll numbers. Now he has announced a tightening of migration policy. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, this is “the biggest overhaul of asylum policy” in the country’s history.
Short Refugee status and less help
Key points of reform: Home Minister Shabana Mahmood wants to shorten the duration of refugee status to 30 months. These protections are “reviewed periodically” and refugees must return to their country of origin as soon as they are deemed safe. Currently, people receive refugee status for five years. They can then apply for permanent residency and ultimately citizenship.
“This country has a proud tradition of welcoming those fleeing danger,” Mahmood said. “But this generosity attracts illegal migrants across the English Channel.” So people would cross Europe via “safe countries” and then cross the English Channel to Great Britain.
“Scapegoat politics and fake debates”
Mahmood also announced that legal obligations to support certain asylum seekers, such as housing and weekly payments, would be abolished. In the future, such assistance will depend on the authorities’ discretion and will be refused, for example if asylum seekers are unable to support themselves or if they commit crimes.
More than 100 British organizations wrote a letter calling on the Home Secretary to end “politics of scapegoating and false debates that only cause harm.” The British Refugee Council says refugees come to Britain because of family ties or language skills, not because of the asylum system.
Right-wing populist put the Labor Party under pressure
The number of asylum applications in the UK has recently reached a record. In the 12 months to March 2025, 109,343 people applied for asylum in the UK. This number increased 17 percent compared to the previous year.
The currently announced reform model is Denmark, which has tightened its asylum policy. Human rights groups accuse the country of using its policies to create a hostile climate for migrants.
The ruling Labor Party lags further behind in opinion polls than Nigel Farage’s anti-migrant British Reform party.
