The UN refugee agency has warned that UK plans requiring some refugees to wait up to 30 years for permission to settle raise “significant concerns”. The policy was set out by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood earlier this week as she adjusted parts of the government’s immigration plans while retaining strict rules for people who arrive through irregular routes, including by small boat.
Mahmood introduced an exception allowing care workers to apply for indefinite leave to remain after five years. However, refugees who arrive by irregular means may still face a wait of up to 30 years. Some can shorten the period through work or study, while people arriving on small boats or concealed in lorries face a 10-year penalty compared with those using safe and legal routes.
UNHCR welcomed the introduction of legal routes but said the extended qualifying period was especially concerning alongside short-term stay arrangements and changes made last year that could prevent many people from accessing citizenship. It warned that the measures could weaken refugees’ sense of security, belonging and stability, and affect their ability to contribute to their new communities.
The agency said refugees had fled because they could not rely on their countries’ protection or safely return, adding that settlement played an important role beyond the initial grant of asylum.
Kamena Dorling, policy director at the Helen Bamber Foundation, also criticised the plan. She said it could cause lasting harm to refugees, including survivors of torture and trafficking, and argued that a longer wait would not deter people fleeing conflict and persecution. With legal routes severely limited, she said, people would continue to take desperate measures to reach safety and could face decades of uncertainty after being recognised as refugees.
Sources: The Guardian Politics.