Asylum Matters

Shabana Mahmood to announce asylum system changes to take effect From Monday, asylum seekers granted refugee status in the UK will be offered only temporary protection.

How can you settle, work, or make friends when you might be sent back to the country you've fled after just 30 months?
And how will a country already struggling with a huge asylum backlog process millions of new case reviews every year?
This heartless anti-refugee policy makes no sense.

Refugee status to be temporary as Shabana Mahmood rips up rules on UK asylum Home secretary announces 30-month protection limit, with refugees required to leave if their home countries are later judged safe

Refugees do not choose to come here - by definition, they were forced to flee.

Scrapping permanent status will trap refugees in a state of insecurity and fear. This is inhumane cruelty.

Doing so says some people deserve fewer rights - and that inequality is law.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Refugee status to be temporary as Shabana Mahmood rips up rules on UK asylum Home secretary announces 30-month protection limit, with refugees required to leave if their home countries are later judged safe

Today is a dark day for anyone who believes in sanctuary in the UK.

People who've fled war and torture should be able to rebuild their lives in peace and security - not live under a constant threat of removal.

We must not stop fighting these appalling anti-refugee laws.

People who aren't safe in their home countries should be able to rebuild their lives in safety and security here. That's the whole point of our asylum system.

So why is the asylum grant rate as low as 34% for a clearly unsafe country like Afghanistan?

Do not abandon hope. We can win. 🧡

🟢🟢🟢
1/ The result from Gorton & Denton sends a clear message: voters don't want their leaders to scapegoat & demonise migrants. They want them to focus on real problems that effect their day-to-day lives.
We hope this government listens.
If they are, we have some suggestions 💡

Spain just granted legal status to undocumented migrants. So what does that mean for us here in the UK?
Not that we need to copy and paste Spain's approach. But that our hostile migration system doesn't have to be this way - we can imagine so much better.
www.bigissue.com/opinion/spai...

For years, politicians have insisted that scapegoating people seeking sanctuary & throwing migrant communities under the bus is the only way to win election.

Yesterday proved what we already knew to be true: people are far kinder and wiser.

Our communities stand together. Politicians: take note.

“It’s about dignity”: The Sheffield organisations campaigning to give asylum seekers the right to work Organisations in Sheffield are campaigning to give people seeking asylum the right to work.

An important reminder that an asylum system that works better for all of us is possible - and it starts with giving people seeking sanctuary the right to work

Well done to the amazing Sheffield Lift The Ban group for their brilliant campaigning towards this vital goal 👏

🚨 DONATE TO HELP US STOP THE GOVERNMENT TEARING FAMILIES APART

Last year, Refugee Family Reunion - the main safe route for children to reunite with family - was suspended. We’re taking legal action to challenge it.

Chip in now: www.crowdjustice.com/case/stop-su...

UK suspension of refugee family reunion scheme to be challenged in high court Judge allows Safe Passage International to launch judicial review of halting of right to bring in children and partners

The suspension of family reunion has caused huge amounts of distress and worry for the women we support.

Forcibly keeping families apart is cruel.

We're pleased to hear that @safepassageintl.bsky.social's challenge will be heard in the high court.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026... 1/3

Refusing people sanctuary does nothing to make their home countries safer, it just leads to more costly appeals, dangerous re-migration attempts and untold human misery and fear.
Bad decision making benefits no one.

It seems our Government is more interested in boasting about traumatic deportations on TikTok than it is in building the faster, fairer system it promised.

It’s particularly notable that today’s figures show a surge in the asylum refusal rates, including for clearly unsafe countries such as Afghanistan which traditionally saw high approval rates.

Or an insular state where our ageing population is forced to work until we drop, so unwelcoming that those who have a choice avoid us and those who have no choice - who come here simply because they need safety - are trapped in poverty and isolation?

We have a choice. Do we want to live in a thriving, international Britain where talented people choose to bring their skills and energy, and where people fleeing war and persecution get a fair chance to rebuild their lives?

People who come here to work and raise their families in peace make us all richer, both economically and culturally. Instead, our Government’s hostile policy risks making us all poorer - and we’ve not yet seen the impacts of its latest attack on Indefinite Leave to Remain.

Orange text box reads "migration is a good thing"

Migration stats are out today, so here's a reminder that fewer people moving to this country, and fewer people being given sanctuary, is nothing to celebrate or strive for.
🧵

UK suspension of refugee family reunion scheme to be challenged in high court Judge allows Safe Passage International to launch judicial review of halting of right to bring in children and partners

Stopping families separated by war and persecution from reuniting is beyond cruel.

Our Government must not be allowed to abandon its duty to safeguard children.

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

How rightwing rhetoric has risen sharply in the UK parliament – an exclusive visual analysis In the past five years, MPs’ attitudes in the House of Commons towards immigration have swung harder to the right than at almost any other time in the last century

Our politicians are more hostile towards migration than they've been in the last 100 years.

This is not just about language. It's the harmful policy that language facilitates, the fear it generates, the racist violence on our streets it enables.

Absolutely vital analysis:

UK migrant families face giving up vital in-work benefits to avoid being ‘punished’ Under Shabana Mahmood’s proposals, wait for settled status would double to 20 years if public funds used while in work

📣📣📣
1/ Coverage in @theguardian.com of our research on how the govt's so-called 'earned settlement model' will plunge racialised British children into poverty by punishing their parents for receiving basic state support.
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

If you're horrified by Reform's headline-grabbing racism (and you should be), you should also be horrified by our current Government's attacks on Indefinite Leave To Remain.

Our head of campaigns @nbphillips1872.bsky.social in The Guardian:

buff.ly/JIRAiD7

And Nathan Phillips, head of campaigns at Asylum Matters, also criticised Reform UK while pointing out that Labour too is not committed to protecting the ILF status quo. Referring to the Yusuf speech, he said: This is an utterly abhorrent, terrifying proposal that would destroy individual lives, our communities and our economy. It's hard to believe anyone could look at the violent abductions and state-sponsored murders taking place in the US and conclude that's what we need here. What's most disturbing is that this extremist policy isn't an outlier. Our current government is condemning Reform's plan to end indefinite leave to remain, while actively planning to deny thousands of people the right to claim ILR, and make even more people, including refugees, wait decades to achieve that security. It's broadcasting its own Ice-style TikTok videos while calling newcomers to this country "strangers”.

That is not to say that people shouldn't condemn these policies, they actively should, but they also need to recognise that is what Reform wants. That's why @nbphillips1872.bsky.social from @asylummatters.bsky.social comments is so good, it provides wider contextualisation.

THE VOICE, an Action Group of Women on the 10 year route to settlement, supported by GMIAU, responded to the Government’s “earned settlement” consultation.

Here is a snippet of what they had to say:

This is not a problem of one political party. Reform's abhorrent plan would destroy lives and communities - but so do the hostile policies promoted over recent years by Governments of all stripes.
Our Government must defend migration & sanctuary, not give in to these extremists.

We need our leaders to show real courage in standing up for our welcoming, diverse communities, to celebrate migration and build policy that lets everyone get on with building a life. Otherwise they’ll be paving the way for the dystopian future Reform so proudly promotes.
(4/5)

It’s broadcasting its own ICE-style TikTok videos while calling newcomers to this country “strangers”.
This hostile rhetoric and hostile policy from our Government is part of what makes announcements like we're seeing today, that would once have been unthinkable, possible.
(3/5)

Our current Government condemns Reform’s plan to end Indefinite Leave to Remain, while actively planning to deny thousands of people ILR, and make even more people, including refugees with recognised protection needs, wait decades to achieve that security.
(2/5)

Today Reform announces its dystopian vision for the UK. It's hard to believe anyone could look at the kidnappings and state-sponsored murders in the US and conclude that's what we need.
But what's most worrying is this extremist plan isn't an outlier...
(1/5)

🚫 No more children should be placed at risk as a result of flawed assessments and processes that are susceptible to political interference.

As a member of The Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium, we welcome the coalition's calls for the NAAB to be disbanded.