Refugee Council

Minister makes major vow on safe routes - 'alternative to small boat crossings' Home Office minister Mike Tapp said the Government is committed to extending safe and legal routes to the UK - as he pointed to a rise in grants last year

People fleeing war and oppression are being pushed into dangerous journeys because safe and legal routes are being shut down.

In the last three months of 2025, there was a 35% drop in people granted protection through resettlement schemes, compared to 2024.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

Read our full reaction to today's numbers here:

www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/press-office...

But hotels could be closed this year through a one-off scheme for people from countries who are almost guaranteed to be recognised as refugees, giving them temporary leave subject to rigorous security checks.

That way, the government could focus on making fair and fast decisions.

More than 100,000 people claimed asylum last year, official figures show Number of small boat migrants rose over past year as average of 71 people now being crammed onto dinghies

Although today's immigration statistics show progress, tens of thousands of people are still stuck in hotels for months or years, unable to legally work or rebuild their lives.

Asylum hotels cost billions, spark division, and keep people trapped in uncertainty

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Woman in a Ukrainian flag standing in front of a church with a young girl.

Today, on the four-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine, we're thinking of the Ukrainian refugees we work with every day at the Refugee Council, and their courage as they rebuild their lives here in Britain.

Loss of life was avoidable in worst small boat disaster in Channel, inquiry finds Cranston report highly critical of systemic failings and missed opportunities around deaths of at least 33 people

These findings will be heartbreaking for the families of those who died on 24 November 2021.

This needless loss of life shows how desperate people are to reach safety, and why it is so vital to have safe and legal routes to allow people to get to the UK.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Our outgoing Chief Executive @enversol.bsky.social joined the Law & Disorder podcast for a wide-ranging discussion on asylum in the UK, and why it's so important that we continue our proud legacy of offering safety to those fleeing war and persecution: open.spotify.com/episode/0NAy...

Football is our national obsession - and one of the best ways to bring people together.

Fair Shot's incredible team of refugees and people seeking asylum played football with Barnsley FC fans this weekend.

Watch them talk to ITV Calendar about how sport unites us:

www.itv.com/watch/news/b...

At most, Crowborough will accommodate about 1.5% of the current hotel population. Camps are not the answer. As @refugeecouncil.bsky.social's Imran Hussain set out in the Times this morning, the way to end the use of hotels is to move people out of the asylum system www.thetimes.com/comment/lett...

Baroness Lister is right to challenge the absence of child rights impact assessments for the Government's latest asylum proposals.

Leaving children in prolonged uncertainty is not only damaging for them, but undermines confidence that these policies will work in the long term.

Siham, Daneshgar, and Motaz are just three of the young people we work with. They told ITV News why education is so important for young refugees, to help them settle into Britain, rebuild their lives, and find work. www.itv.com/news/2026-01...

I never thought I’d see an asylum hotel on fire, or worry about my staff’s safety. The past five years changed that | Enver Solomon As head of an immigration charity, I’ve seen firsthand how hostility and toxicity have reached unprecedented levels, says outgoing Refugee Council CEO Enver Solomon

As CEO Enver Solomon leaves the Refugee Council, he reflects on the past five years in asylum policy - and how hostility and toxicity have reached unprecedented levels.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Home Office TikTok account posting deportation footage accused of turning ‘brutality into clickbait’ Video of raids and migrant arrests shared by profile with slogan ‘restoring order and control to our borders’

Tough-talking TikToks may get headlines, but there is very little evidence that these kinds of messages work to deter anyone.

Refugees come to the UK because of existing links – like having family here, speaking English, or longstanding cultural ties.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Afghan women in the UK: amplifying their voice – a photo essay Over four years have passed since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. Claudia Janke’s photographic series features seven Afghan women who have found safety in the UK after escaping at great ...

“Women in Afghanistan are like birds with clipped wings: they are not allowed to fly… But I still hold on to hope.”

Three of the amazing women we work with speak about their lives and finding safety in the UK in a powerful @theguardian.com piece by Claudia Janke

www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

‘A place of welcome’: Yorkshire town rallies round to help asylum seekers Churches and community groups in Northallerton provide food, clothing and company for refugee families

Across the country, many communities have welcomed people seeking asylum into their spaces.

Read about a Christmas party where Refugee Council frontline workers, churches and community groups shared food and gifts with refugee families.

www.ft.com/content/1d11... via @financialtimes.com

From visas to housing: what people don't understand about the cruel asylum system The problem with asylum in the UK is a system that doesn’t work, not the people trapped in it

The problem with asylum in the UK is a system that doesn’t work, not the people trapped in it.

Renae Mann, our Executive Director of Services, for @theipaper.com on what the public doesn't understand about asylum and immigration ✍️

inews.co.uk/opinion/visa...

UK joins call for Europe’s human rights laws to be ‘constrained’ Britain aligns with some of Europe’s hardline governments in calling for change to allow Rwanda-style migration deals

We can build a fair asylum system that determines who qualifies for protection and who does not.

Or we can water down laws that protect us all: desperate people would still arrive on our shores, but be driven underground and left vulnerable to abuse.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

But the delays, bottlenecks and system failures push them into uncertainty, ill-health and, too often, homelessness.

This is harmful for people who come here in search of safety, and it places avoidable strain on local communities and the public purse.

People wait months or even years for a decision, local councils are under-resourced, and costs keep rising.

We support people who have fled untold horrors in places like Sudan and Afghanistan and want nothing more than to rebuild their lives.

UK asylum system hit by inefficiencies and wasted funds, watchdog finds In a new analysis, the National Audit Office finds “reactive” government policies moved problems elsewhere.

More than half of people who applied for asylum almost three years ago still don’t have an outcome, the NAO has found.

As we told the BBC, the report mirrors what we see every day in our frontline services: a system that is simply not functioning.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Share your concerns about the government's new asylum plans The Government has announced major changes to the asylum system, which could lead to serious consequences for people seeking protection. We must show the government that these changes do not reflect w...

The Government's new asylum plans will overwhelm an overstretched system, keep people trapped in uncertainty for up to 20 years, and cost more than £1.1 billion.

Tell your MP that we need a safe, fair and humane asylum system ⬇️

refugee-council.yourmovement.org/p/share-conc...

Number of refugees allowed to settle in UK under UN schemes falls 26% in a year Refugee Council says Home Office figures show safe and legal pathways are ‘disappearing when most needed’

These figures show that the few existing “safe and legal” routes for people are disappearing.

When legal routes to the UK aren’t available, people escaping war and persecution are pushed towards smugglers and dangerous journeys instead.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Debate: Is Britain’s asylum system broken? We spoke to the former director general of the UK Border Force, Tony Smith, and the Refugee Council's Chief Executive, Enver Solomon.

"We are a country of migrants... The vast majority of refugees who come here want to work hard, give back, and become proud Britons."

Watch our CEO Enver Solomon speaking about Britain's asylum system on Channel 4 News last night.

@channel4news.bsky.social

www.channel4.com/news/debate-...

Enver Solomon: 'When we hear the word ‘refugee’ do we think ‘giver’?' Despite misinformation that characterises refugees as a burden, their massive contribution to London is what makes the city the thriving metropolis it is today

Despite anti-refugee misinformation, we see in our frontline services every day how refugees already contribute massively to the UK.

Our CEO Enver Solomon in The Standard for the "Who's at your table?" campaign with Comic Relief ⬇️

www.standard.co.uk/comment/enve...

Refugees who were months away from settlement now face 15-year wait Shabana Mahmood’s asylum reforms will apply retrospectively, it has been confirmed — and it is claimed the bureaucracy will cost up to £1.3bn

Stability is what allows people to heal, learn English, find work and become part of their communities. The government must provide people with the security to get on with their lives. Read more here 👉 thetimes.com/article/6f83...

Our new analysis shows once the system is fully operational, 1.66-1.9m reviews of refugee status would need to be done over the first decade, resulting in a total cost of between £1.1 - 1.27bn, depending on how many people lose their protection at review.

The government’s plan to review refugee status every 30 months is unworkable and extremely costly - and applying it retrospectively to people already granted protection will make an unmanageable system even worse.

We know why people come to the UK: because they already have family here, they speak some English, or they have long-standing ties that help them rebuild their lives in safety.

Shabana Mahmood’s radical reforms to halt ‘asylum shoppers’ Shabana Mahmood will announce Denmark-style plans to increase deportations and reduce pull factors to the UK

People who have been persecuted, tortured or seen family members killed in brutal wars are not "asylum shopping."

As our CEO told @thetimes.com, refugees don’t compare asylum systems before running for their lives.

www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

The only realistic solution is to grant temporary permission to stay for people from countries where we know most asylum applications succeed, subject to rigorous security checks. This could end the use of costly asylum hotels next year. t.co/U1YPWhAxlO