UK toughens asylum policy in major overhaul as anti-immigration sentiment rises

SCMP | Nov. 17, 2025, 1:28 p.m. | Original
VID

Britain’s Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Photo: Jeff Overs / BBC / AFP

Britain on Monday said it would make refugee status temporary and speed up the deportation of those who arrive illegally, in a major overhaul aimed at stemming the rise of the populist Reform UK party and tackling abuse of the current system.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood outlined changes to how the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) should be interpreted by UK courts to give the government greater control over who can remain in Britain.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer , a former human rights lawyer, said Britain’s current asylum regime “is a significant pull factor”, was more permissive than other countries in Europe and was not designed to deal with the large number of asylum seekers moving across the globe.

In what the centre-left Labour government says is the most sweeping asylum policy overhaul of modern times, Mahmood announced changes that include quadrupling to 20 years the time refugees will have to wait to settle permanently.

The government also threatened visa bans on Angola, Namibia and DR Congo unless those countries accepted the return of illegal migrants and criminals.

Immigration has become the most important issue for voters in recent months, with those arriving in small boats from France the most visible sign of illegal arrivals.

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