The Labour government under Keir Starmer has unveiled proposals for the most extensive reform of the UK’s asylum system in decades.

Among other measures, refugee status will become temporary, meaning individuals will be returned to their home countries when conditions are safe, while the waiting period for permanent residency will quadruple—from five years today to 20.

The reform also includes the introduction of AI tools to estimate the age of applicants to prevent adults from claiming to be minors.

“We have a system that is out of control,” said Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on Sunday, who herself has Pakistani heritage.

CNN notes that following a summer of protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers, a large anti-immigration demonstration in London, and relentless criticism from the far-right Reform UK party, the Home Secretary announced plans to reduce illegal Channel crossings in small boats and to return refugees to their home countries when it is safe.

In the 12 months from March 2024 to March 2025, asylum applications reached 109,343—an increase of 17% compared to the previous year, Reuters reports. The number is still lower than in France, Germany, Italy, or Spain—countries of comparable population size.

Meanwhile, the number of migrants arriving legally has fallen sharply: 906,000 people entered the UK in the year from June 2022 to June 2023, compared with 431,000 the following year, partly due to stricter regulations.

Main pillars of the plan

1. Ending the “automatic path” to permanent residency
The automatic route to permanent status after five years of refugee residency will end. Under the changes, refugee status will be reviewed every 2.5 years during a 20-year waiting period before an individual may apply for permanent settlement.
The 20-year rule will apply to new arrivals.

The minister said this would overturn a long-standing assumption “held for generations” that the granting of asylum quickly leads to permanent residency “and all the rights that come with it.”

2. Ending benefits for those who choose not to work
Housing benefits and weekly allowances will be abolished for those who are allowed to work but choose not to, as well as for those who break the law.

“It is not fair that British citizens and long-term residents must follow one set of rules and comply, while another group of people—who also have the right to work—get away with not doing so,” said the Home Secretary.

Labour’s difficult balancing act

As CNN highlights, the new policy is inspired in part by Denmark’s approach—one of the strictest in Europe. However, London is going even further, as the long path to settlement is far longer than Denmark’s eight-year requirement.

After its sweeping victory in the 2024 elections, the Labour Party is struggling to balance tackling illegal immigration without alienating its voter base, which tends to favor a softer approach. Yet the party is failing to persuade either side: the right demands harsher measures, while the left distances itself from the party’s tough rhetoric.