London: More than 45,000 foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers will be removed over the coming decade and refugees will be made to pay back accommodation costs under the UK’s immigration reforms.
In a series of policy pitches this week, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said “thousands more foreign criminals and illegal migrants who have no right to be here” will be removed following “significant expansion” of detention capacity.
Under plans she has tabled in Parliament, asylum seekers will be ordered to pay around 10,000 pounds through funds at their disposal or in instalments once they start earning to cover UK state-funded living costs.
“Receiving asylum support is a right, but it is also a responsibility. Once people can contribute and repay the generosity of the British people, we expect them to do so,” said Mahmood.
The Home Office said refugees will be required to pay off the full amount before being eligible for settlement. It pointed out that the move was necessary because around 4 billion pounds of British taxpayers’ money was spent on supporting asylum seekers last year.
“The reforms will restore order to the system, creating new legal pathways for those who need protection, preventing abuse of legal protections, and rebuilding public consent in our asylum system,” it stated.
Among the reforms proposed by Mahmood, Britain’s Pakistani heritage Home Secretary, who is expected to stay in post after a new leader replaces Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the coming weeks, is a plan to double the Immigration Enforcement workforce numbers to deliver “tens of thousands more raids, arrests, and deportations of illegal migrants”.
“Returns and deportations are at their highest level in nearly a decade. Nearly 70,000 individuals with no right to be here have been removed from the UK since this government took office (in July 2024). But we will not stop there,” said Mahmood.
The UK’s Refugee Council has dubbed some of the proposals as “unfair, impractical”, amounting to an “extra tax on refugees” that will make it “harder for families to rebuild their lives and stand on their own feet”.