Shabana Mahmood accused of hardening immigration plans for 200,000 successful asylum applicants
Summary
UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s immigration plan would place some refugees who arrived outside safe and legal routes on renewable 30-month permits, with settlement potentially delayed for up to 30 years. The Refugee Council says the change reverses assurances that asylum applicants who had already applied by 1 March 2026 could seek settlement after five years; the Home Office says there has been no policy change since last year’s proposals.Key Facts
- The plan would move refugees who claimed asylum before 2 March 2026 and did not arrive through safe and legal routes to the government’s Core Protection scheme.
- Under Core Protection, adults and children receive permission to stay for 30 months at a time and must renew it.
- The Home Office says refugee status could be revoked if it considers conditions in a person’s home country safe.
- A government memo issued in March said people who had claimed asylum by 1 March 2026 would remain eligible to apply for settlement after five years.
- Mahmood said in a November 2025 post on X that a 30-year wait would apply to illegal entrants who were not refugees.
- The Refugee Council estimates that about 200,000 successful asylum applicants could be affected and warns that the policy would create uncertainty and repeated applications.
- The Home Office said there had been no policy change since last year’s proposals and declined to comment further on Mahmood’s post or the document’s footnote.
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