22 November 2025: After the statement in Parliament on Monday, the Home Office released a consultation document which you can access via the Free Movement website (see below), and also the Government website, at the end of this post.

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Free Movement: Home Secretary opens consultation on “earned settlement”

The consultation on extending the period people in certain immigration routes will need to wait before being able to apply for settlement (also referred to as indefinite leave to remain) has been opened. The Home Secretary also made a statement in the House of Commons. The changes were first trailed in the immigration white paper in May.

The consultation document is called “A Fairer Pathway to Settlement: A statement and accompanying consultation on earned settlement”. The consultation is open until 11.59pm on 12 February 2026. The Home Secretary said today that the intention is to start implementing the changes in the April 2026 statement of changes.

In the foreword, the Home Secretary says that “It is clear the pace and scale of migration in this country has not just been unprecedented but also destabilising” and refers to an “open border experiment” and says that “Fraud, as any constituency Member of Parliament can tell you, was rife”. Putting aside these inaccurate and offensive comments, let’s move on to the proposals.   

Continue reading “Government consultation – ‘earned settlement’”

18 November 2025: from SNN signatory organisation – Migrant Voice: The downward spiral of political hostility.

The downward spiral of hate and hostility against those seeking asylum and other migrants did not start with this government, it didn’t even start with the previous one, however it has been turbocharged with the current rhetoric.

During party conferences in September and October, and in interviews since, we have seen politicians from different parties try and outdo each other on the levels of inhumanity they can throw at us. Talk of mass deportations for those who already living and working here have been effectively “normalised” in some quarters.

With its hostile anti-asylum proposals yesterday, this government has thrown more petrol on the fire . We know from our experience working with other migrants how the current 20-year-route, which those who have “fallen out of status” have to go through, increases the risks of exploitation, along with causing significant mental and physical harm.

Continue reading “The downward spiral of political hostility.”

18 November 2025: Guardian: Asylum changes seek to use children as a weapon, says Labour peer Alf Dubs

Dubs, who was a child refugee, says Shabana Mahmood’s ‘shabby’ plans will increase community tensions

The home secretary is seeking “to use children as a weapon” in her changes to the asylum system, a veteran Labour peer who came to Britain as a child refugee has said.

Alf Dubs, who arrived in the UK aged six in 1939 fleeing the persecution of Jews in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, described Shabana Mahmood’s proposals as “a shabby thing”.

Mahmood faced a backlash from Labour MPs and refugee charities on Monday as she set out plans for the biggest shake-up of asylum laws in 40 years.

Continue reading “New anti-refugee laws put asylum rights under more threat than ever”

17 November 2025: Together With Refugees – TWR: Together With Refugees new report ‘Welcoming Growth: The economic case for a fair and humane asylum system’ 

Britain’s refugee policies have been uncaring, chaotic, and costly for too long. They aren’t working for refugees, and they aren’t working for communities across the country. 

The politically mismanaged and unnecessarily costly asylum system, along with unfounded narratives that refugees are a drain on public services and damage the economy, have led to febrile debates and violence. 

In reality, short-sighted, headline-grabbing, and incoherent Government policies are not only hindering the integration of refugees, damaging their well-being and economic stability, but also disturbing societal cohesion and values.

Together With Refugees new report, in partnership with the Public and Commercial Services Union, makes the economic case for a fair and humane asylum system. Read the press release here.

Continue reading “TWR: Welcoming Growth: The economic case for a fair and humane asylum system “

15 November 2025: UK charities condemn ‘immoral’ plans to force asylum seekers to volunteer

Making volunteering compulsory for refugees slammed as exploitative, bureaucratic and un-British

Hundreds of charities have said they will refuse to cooperate with “immoral” government plans to force refugees to undertake mandatory volunteering as a condition of being allowed to settle in the UK.

The charities said that compelling refugees and asylum seekers to volunteer would be exploitative, bureaucratic and un-British – and would undermine a fundamental principle that volunteers give their time and skills freely.

The government is expected imminently to publish outline detailed proposals for mandatory volunteering as part of a formal consultation on a wider “contribution-based settlement model” aimed at reducing immigration.

The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said in a speech to Labour party conference in September that in future people would have to prove they had made a social “contribution” – such as volunteering for local causes – to qualify for leave to remain.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/nov/14/uk-charities-condemn-plans-to-force-migrants-to-volunteer

Tragic … following Denmark

Update 17 Nov 2025:

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15 November 2025: BBC: UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays

People granted asylum in the UK will only be allowed to stay in the country temporarily, in a major change of policy to be announced by the home secretary on Monday.

Shabana Mahmood is expected to declare that the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, as she seeks to reduce asylum claims and small boat crossings.

Continue reading “UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays”

The iPaper: Home Office eVisa failures leave thousands ‘unable to work or leave UK’

Foreign nationals have been wrongly charged for NHS treatment and incorrectly told they have been given refugee status, according to campaigners

Problems with the Home Office digitised immigration system have left foreign nationals unable to prove their right to work and wrongly informed they have received refugee status, a new report says.

EU citizens’ campaign group the3million says thousands of people have been affected by flaws with eVisas, which were rolled out last year.

Reports made to the group include people stranded abroad after being refused entry on flights, wrongly charged for NHS treatment, and denied benefits as their eVisa incorrectly stated they could not access public funds.

Read more here: https://inews.co.uk/news/home-office-evisa-flaws-thousands-unable-work-4023848

4 November 2025: Status Now is signatory to the Reunite Families UK initiative organised by JCWI. It is campaigning to preserve the right to refugee family reunion current under threat by the government.

Reunite Families UK: The government has shut down refugee family reunion — turning in effect a “temporary pause” into a permanent ban. You can following campaign developments on this BlueSky list: https://bsky.app/profile/rfuk.bsky.social/post/3m4sdxdbj6s2x

Reunite Families UK: Over 60 orgs condemn suspension of refugee family reunion route

Reunite Families UK, together with the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants coordinated a statement that has been signed by over 60 organisations across the UK condemning the suspension of the refugee family reunion route.  

We are appalled and outraged by the government’s unexpected and cruel suspension of applications for refugee family reunion, first announced in early September, and the more recent announcement to permanently strip refugees of this fundamental right.

What was initially described as a temporary measure has become a full-scale closure of the route. Refugees now face impossibly strict requirements that many people in our communities already struggle to overcome. Forcing people to meet a minimum income requirement that 50% of the UK working population would not meet is ludicrous, intentionally cruel and inhumane.

Continue reading “Over 60 orgs condemn suspension of refugee family reunion route”

Updated 29 September 2025: BBC: Mahmood demands migrants earn right to settlement in UK

Migrants will have to prove they are contributing to society to earn the right to remain in the UK, the home secretary has said.

In her speech to the Labour conference, Shabana Mahmood outlined a series of new conditions migrants have to meet to qualify for indefinite leave to remain.

Under the proposals, legal migrants will have to learn English to a high standard, have a clean criminal record and volunteer in their community to be granted permanent settlement status.

Labour says the policy draws a clear dividing line between the government and Reform UK, which says it would abolish indefinite leave to remain.

Continue reading “Mahmood demands migrants earn right to settlement in UK”

21 September 2025: Manchester Evening News: The truth about asylum seeker hotels

SPECIAL REPORT: As protests continue outside hotels housing people seeking asylum in our region, the Manchester Evening News looks at how we ended up in this situation, what the government is planning to do about it and where asylum seekers will go when the hotels are closed.

[…] The number of decisions made on asylum applications has increased since the Labour government came to power last year.

However, according to GMIAU, the ‘rushed process’ means that many are being wrongly rejected and appealing these decisions.

“Although the Home Office has sped up decision making, the rushed process is affecting the quality of decision making, meaning that many are being wrongly refused asylum,” a spokesperson for GMIAU said.

Continue reading “The truth about asylum seeker hotels”

23 September 2025: BBC: Behind the doors of asylum hotels – what I found when I went inside

As I eat a meal cooked on the floor of a shower, I realise nothing has prepared me for what life is like for the residents of an asylum hotel.

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The Home Office says it is identifying more suitable relocation sites for asylum seekers, such as disused buildings and former military facilities.

In the meantime, “we expect all providers to uphold the highest standards in preserving the safety, security, and wellbeing of those in their care”, said a spokesperson.

Since talking to me at the asylum hotel, Kadir and his family have been told they are to be moved on once more – to two hotels in different cities. Kadir and his baby daughter have been offered accommodation in one hotel, and Mira, Shayan and Roman in another, nearly 200 miles away.

But they are refusing to go. Kadir has already been told he has lost his weekly benefit and there is a chance the family will be deemed to have made themselves intentionally homeless.

The future for the family – like many other asylum seekers – remains anything but certain.

Continue reading “Behind the doors of asylum hotels”

1 September 2025: Independent: Yvette Cooper’s Plans to Fix the Asylum System Won’t Work

After a summer of spiralling migrant numbers and protests outside asylum hotels, the home secretary has returned to the Commons with tougher new restrictions – but Labour looks like it’s playing catch-up to Reform, says Emily Sheffield

On the government’s first day back in the Commons – after a summer marked by dire headlines about asylum hotels and an ever-rising number of arrivals in small boats – Yvette Cooper was probably hoping that her plans to fix “our broken asylum system” would draw a line under things. Fat chance, home secretary.

Continue reading “Yvette Cooper’s Plans to Fix the Asylum System Won’t Work”

27 August 2026: Freemovement: Briefing: the sorry state of the UK asylum system

In this briefing we will take a look at what is really going on with the main features of the contemporary asylum system: arrivals, the backlog, detention, removal and resettlement. The focus is on what caused the backlog and what consequences will flow from the large number of decisions being made. The information is drawn mainly from the quarterly immigration statistics and transparency data for the year ended June 2025, the most recent available at the time of writing.

The picture the data presents is of a system that has been overwhelmed. Not by new arrivals but by mismanagement.

Read more: https://freemovement.org.uk/briefing-the-sorry-state-of-the-uk-asylum-system

2 August 2025: Guardian: Language on immigration in UK news and politics found to have ‘shaped backlash against antiracism’

Pattern of ‘hostile language’ in media and debates likely to describe people of colour with less sympathy, report says

A pattern of “hostile language” in news reports and UK parliamentary debates is more likely to describe people of colour as immigrants, or with less sympathy, researchers have found.

The race equality thinktank the Runnymede Trust analysed more than 63m words from 52,990 news articles and 317 House of Commons debates on immigration between 2019 and the general election in July 2024.

Researchers concluded that the use of language about race and immigration by media and politicians has helped shape “the increase in reactionary politics and backlash against antiracism which has emboldened the far right in this country”.

Continue reading “Importance of language”