UK to scrap automatic settlement rights for asylum seekers
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to scrap the automatic right to settlement for asylum seekers as part of a major overhaul of the UK’s refugee system.
Currently, refugees are granted permanent settlement after five years and can immediately bring family members to the country once their asylum application is approved. Starmer said the current rules were “not fit for purpose” and gave small boat arrivals more rights than British citizens or migrants who enter the country legally.
“If you want to come to the UK, you should contribute to our society. That is the tolerant and fair approach to migration that our communities are built on,” he said ahead of a European leaders’ summit in Copenhagen.
“But the current system is not fit for purpose. That is why we’re making fundamental changes to what those granted asylum are afforded in the UK. Settlement must be earned by contributing to our country, not by paying a people-smuggler to cross the channel in a boat.”
Under the proposed reforms, refugees will be required to meet the same conditions as other foreign nationals, including a clean criminal record and community service. Application fees for indefinite leave to remain, currently waived, will be imposed. Refugees will also face financial and English language requirements before reuniting with family members, with a minimum two-year wait.
Starmer also announced plans to work with European nations to set up joint migrant “return hubs” in the Western Balkans and Africa for failed asylum seekers.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp dismissed the reforms as “another gimmick from a government that has lost control of our borders.”
According to government data, Britain granted 20,817 refugee family reunion visas in 2024, a fivefold rise in two years.
