Home Secretary unveils sweeping asylum reforms to tackle 'out of control and unfair' system

Under the changes, asylum seekers will be returned home if their country is deemed safe and will have to wait 20 years in the UK before they can apply to settle permanently.

Deportations after claims are rejected will also be sped up, while visas for nationals from Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo will not be granted if their governments do not increase cooperation with the UK's attempts to deport their citizens.

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Announcing the changes in the Commons on Monday, she said: “It feels that way because it is.

"The pace and scale of change has destabilised communities, it is making our country a more divided place.

“There will never be a justification for the violence and racism of a minority, but if we fail to deal with this crisis, we will draw more people down a path that starts with anger and ends in hatred.

“I have no doubt about who we really are in this country.

“We are open, tolerant and generous, but the public rightly expects that we can determine who enters this country and who must leave.”

The Home Secretary insisted her plans could unite “a divided country” and fix the asylum system.

The new measures include:

• Cutting the time refugees are initially granted to stay in the UK from five years to a 30-month “core protection” system, which can only be renewed if it is not safe for them to return.
• Refugees will have to spend 20 years in the UK before being allowed to apply for settled status, up from five years.
• There will be no automatic right to family reunion for refugees under core protection.
• Housing and weekly allowances will no longer be guaranteed for asylum seekers, and those who can work or have assets will have to contribute to their costs in the UK.
• Families with children could also be subject to enforced returns under measures to remove failed asylum seekers, and the Government is launching a consultation on how that should be done.
• Syrians with no right to be in the UK could potentially be forcibly returned home following the collapse of Bashar Assad’s regime under plans being considered by the Government.

Ms Mahmood added that the “uncomfortable truth” that the UK’s generosity draws migrants to its shores must be accepted.

She told the Commons: “It starts by accepting an uncomfortable truth, while asylum claims fall across Europe, they are rising here, and that is because of the comparative generosity of our asylum offer, when compared to so many of our European neighbours. This generosity is a factor that draws people to these shores on a path that runs through other safe countries.”

She also set out the Government’s plans to create “a new work and study visa route solely for refugees with a quicker path to permanent settlement”.

“To encourage refugees into work, we will also consult on removing benefits for those who are able to work but choose not to. Outside of the most exceptional circumstances, family reunion will not be possible with a refugee only able to bring family over if they have joined a work and study route, and if qualifying tests are met.”

Ms Mahmood continued: “We will now also remove the 2005 legislation that created a duty to support asylum seekers, reverting to a legal power to do so instead.

“While we will continue to support those who play by the rules, those who do not – be that through criminality or anti social behaviour – can have their support removed. We will also remove our duty to support those who have a right to work.”

Asylum seekers will have “just one opportunity” to make their claim, and one to appeal “ending the merry-go-round of claims and appeals that frustrate so many removals”.

Article eight of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) will be narrowed in scope, so “family” means only “parents and their children”.

Ms Mahmood said article eight was a “qualified right” and continued: “Firstly, we will define what exactly a ‘family’ is, narrowing this down to parents and their children.

“Secondly, we will define the public interest test, so the default becomes a removal or refusal, with article eight rights only permissible in the most exceptional circumstances.

“Thirdly, we will tighten where article eight claims can be heard, ensuring only those who are living in the UK can lodge a claim, rather than their family members overseas, and that all claims are heard first by the Home Office and not in a courtroom.”