The UK government is preparing to implement the most significant reform of the asylum system in the last few decades. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood was the one who smoothed the way with her announcement, as she is the one who talked about the plans that would overhaul the whole process of refugees settling in the country.
UK Prepares ‘Historic’ Asylum Reform
As per the official sources, the asylum seekers will no longer be on the automatic list of permanent residents on their arrival after a certain number of years. Rather, they would be assigned to a more difficult and conditional route leading to the possibility of them waiting twenty years before applying for permanence.
What Are The New Changes In UK’s Asylum Reform
The new legislation will make refugee status a temporary one, and the first protection will be given for a period of just 30 months, subject to regular checks. After the period has expired, it will be up to the officials to determine whether the country from which the asylum seeker fled is considered safe. If this is the case, the asylum seeker may be sent back. The government has also suggested putting an end to the automatic right to housing and financial help for asylum seekers, granting the immigration authorities more power to turn down requests for assistance from those deemed able to work or already in possession of some property.
UK’s Attraction For Immigrants
These radical steps are being shown as a wider effort to limit illegal immigration, especially through small boats and also to eliminate what the authorities considered to be the UK’s attraction for immigrants. The new policy is somewhat similar to Denmark’s strict asylum policy that involves regular permanent residence status checks and, at the same time, imposing tougher conditions for such status. The advocates of the changes see it as a way to bring back fairness and restore control over the system, while the opponents view it as a threat to the creation of a new category of long term refugees who are unsettled and also to the UK’s commitment to providing protection to the needy.
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