By Salma El-Sakka
UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood faces accusations of causing distress and uncertainty to hundreds of thousands of refugees by introducing plans that could force them to wait up to 30 years for settlement rights.
Refugee Council warns of distress
The Refugee Council says the changes affect a cohort of 200,000 successful asylum applicants who were previously told they could apply for indefinite leave to remain after five years. They will now face status reviews every 30 months under a "core protection" scheme, with refugee status revocable if conditions in their home country are deemed safe.
Contradiction of previous assurances
The new proposals, announced on Monday, also impose a 30-year settlement wait for refugees arriving by irregular means such as small boats. This contradicts Mahmood's statement last year that only "illegal entrants who are not refugees" would face such a wait.
Previous guarantees dropped
In March, the government had reassured asylum claimants that those with applications submitted by 1 March 2026 would remain eligible for settlement after five years. That guarantee has been quietly dropped in the fine print of the latest immigration plan.
Home Office response
Jon Featonby, chief policy analyst at the Refugee Council, warned the changes will cause "decades of fear and uncertainty" and create administrative chaos for the Home Office. The Home Office said there has been no policy change since last year's proposals but declined to comment on Mahmood's previous social media posts or the footnote in the recent document. Mahmood told MPs that permanent residence will no longer be granted automatically after five years but will be "earned" under a new model.
