Shabana Mahmood vows to end UK’s ‘golden ticket’ for asylum seekers

After only five years in Britain, refugees can apply for a fee free settlement without having made any contribution to the country.

The Home Office said “this will change” with Ms Mahmood set to announce that refugee protection is to become temporary.

According to the Home Office it will now be “regularly reviewed and revoked if their home country is safe to return to again”.

“Put simply, if a refugee no longer requires protection, they will be forced to leave the UK,” the department added.

In changes to be announced this week, the UK’s core protection offer will be “fundamentally reset”.

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The move will see it “far less generous” for asylum seekers and “stripped back to basic entitlements”.

Stay for refugees will be cut from five years to 30 months while the wait for permanent settlement will be quadrupled from five years to 20.

For those wanting to settle sooner, the Home Office said it will “require people to work or study”.

As a result, the Home Office will create new legal routes to allow refugees “to switch off core protection into work and study, including paying associated fees”.

The 20-year wait for permanent settlement contrasts with the current system.

That allows refugees to typically wait five years with continued access to benefits and public funds.

“This is despite not needing to meet any of the financial or integration requirements demanded of legal migrants,” the Home Office stated.

“The reduced protection offer comes amid evidence the UK has become a destination of choice for asylum seekers.”

According to the department, asylum claims in the UK has risen by 18 per cent in the last full calendar year.

That is in contrast to those across the European Union which has fallen by 13 per cent.

More than 400,000 people have claimed asylum since 2021 which is a two-and-a-half-fold increase on the 150,000 claims between 2011 and 2015.

The Home Office stated that the UK will continue to meet basic entitlements in line with international obligations.

But, Britain will “no longer exceed them” and balance protection against persecution “with the need to control our borders”.

“This comes as the Home Secretary is due to announce the most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in modern times,” the office added.

“She will outline measures to make it less attractive for illegal migrants to come to Britain and easier to remove and deport illegal migrants off British soil.”