UK to cut protections for refugees under asylum 'overhaul'

Britain will drastically reduce protections for refugees and end automatic benefits for asylum seekers, the Labour government announced late Saturday, under new plans aimed at slashing irregular immigration and countering the hard-right.

The measures, modelled on Denmark's strict asylum system, were announced as Prime Minister Keir Starmer comes under pressure from surging popularity for the anti-immigrant Reform UK party.

"I'll end UK's golden ticket for asylum seekers," interior minister Shabana Mahmood declared in a statement.

But the head of Britain's Refugee Council warned the government the measures would not deter people from trying to reach Britain, and urged a rethink.

Presently, those given refugee status have it for five years, after which they can apply for indefinite leave to remain and eventually citizenship.

But Mahmood's ministry, known as the Home Office, said it would cut the length of refugee status to 30 months.

That protection will be "regularly reviewed" and refugees will be forced to return to their home countries once they are deemed safe, it added.

The ministry also said that it intended to make those refugees who were granted asylum wait 20 years before applying to be allowed to live in the UK long-term. Currently, they can do so after five years.

Asylum claims in Britain are at a record high, with some 111,000 applications made in the year to June 2025, according to official figures.

Benefits not guaranteed

The Home Office called the new proposals, which Mahmood is due to lay out in parliament on Monday, the "largest overhaul of asylum policy in modern times".

It said the reforms would make it less attractive for irregular migrants to come to Britain, and make it easier to remove those already in the country.

A statutory legal duty to provide support to asylum seekers, introduced in a 2005 law, would also be revoked, the ministry said.

That means housing and weekly financial allowances would no longer be guaranteed for asylum seekers.

It would be "discretionary", meaning the government could deny assistance to any asylum seeker who could work or support themselves but did not, or those who committed crimes.

Starmer, elected last summer, is under pressure to stop migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats from France, something that also troubled his Conservative predecessors.

Danish crackdown

More than 39,000 people, many fleeing conflict, have arrived this year following such dangerous journeys - more than for the whole of 2024 but lower than the record set in 2022.

The crossings are helping fuel the popularity of Reform, led by firebrand Nigel Farage, which has led Labour by double-digit margins in opinion polls for most of this year.

Labour is taking inspiration from Denmark's coalition government - led by the centre-left Social Democrats - which has implemented some of the strictest migration policies in Europe.

Senior British officials recently visited the Scandinavian country, where successful asylum claims are at a 40-year-low.

Refugees in Denmark are entitled to a one-year renewable residency permit, and are encouraged to return home as soon as authorities deem there is no longer a need for a safe haven.

Family reunions are also subject to strict requirements, including a minimum age for both parents, language tests and guarantees of funds.

Britain's Mahmood is also expected to announce a tightening of rules around family reunions.

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, urged the government to rethink its plans, saying they "will not deter" the crossings.

"They should ensure that refugees who work hard and contribute to Britain can build secure, settled lives and give back to their communities," he said.

Labour's more left-wing lawmakers will probably oppose the plans, fearing that the party is losing voters to progressive alternatives such as the Greens.