Shabana Mahmood has vowed to introduce a new safe routes system for refugees styled on the Ukrainian sponsorship scheme.
As part of the Home Secretary’s new plan, safe routes, which could open as soon as this autumn, would allow “trusted” private citizens, community groups and organisations to sponsor refugees to come to the UK.
A separate route for employers to sponsor refugees is expected to open next year.
The new UK refugee sponsorship plan was inspired by Canada’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees scheme, which has settled 400,000 people in the country since 1979.
The Home Office expects it to operate in a similar way to the UK’s Homes for Ukraine scheme, which allowed households and community groups to sponsor more than 200,000 refugees fleeing the war zone.
The number of refugees using the new routes scheme was not specified, though it is understood that there will be a named cap. The Home Office said it would “operate at a much higher capacity” than the current UK Resettlement Scheme, which provides a route for a small number of people each year, with some speculating that the new scheme could take in up to 10,000 people.
How it will work
Refugees from countries the UN has designated as disaster zones due to war, famine, drought or natural disasters will be referred to the UK by the refugee agency UNHCR.
Those from countries at the highest risk, such as Sudan and Eritrea, are likely to be prioritised, with refugees being individually sponsored by businesses, organisations, including universities and church groups or individuals who will pay their visa fees and support them once they enter the UK.
Canada’s system has been hailed as a success in integrating migrants, with 70 per cent of sponsored refugees finding work within a year compared to 40 per cent of those on other routes, according to the Home Office.
It is hoped that the scheme will also reduce small boat arrivals (Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA)The Home Secretary hopes this route will help to bring down small boat arrivals, as people from these countries make up a large proportion of those entering the UK illegally.
There were 27,000 refugees granted asylum through safe and legal routes last year, and 39,000 arrivals by small boat in the year ending March 2026. The new system would bring both of these figures down, it is hoped, by allowing only those who would have a successful asylum claim to enter the country.
Earlier this year, Mahmood announced changes akin to Denmark’s asylum system, doubling the time given for temporary protection to refugees and doubling the time needed to gain residency.
It was also revealed that net migration, those entering the country minus those leaving, fell to 171,000 in 2025.
New laws would tighten the definition of ‘family’
In addition to the new routes, Mahmood has said a new Immigration and Asylum Bill, to be unveiled on Tuesday, will seek to prevent “abuse” of human rights laws, including the right to a family life and modern slavery protections.
The new law will tighten the definition of “family” for the purposes of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), restricting it to immediate family members only.
Critics of the asylum system have focused on Article 8 of the ECHR, saying it has been used to frustrate the deportation of people with no right to be in the UK.
The new legislation will also remove modern slavery protections from foreign offenders who have been jailed and reject claims made when deportation action has already commenced if there was an opportunity to make a claim earlier.
Mahmood said: “Britain has always offered sanctuary to those fleeing war and persecution.
“But this system only survives if the public trusts that it is fair, controlled, and not open to abuse.”
Makerfield MP Andy Burnham has faced calls to scrap the changes to indefinite leave to remain (Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty)This comes as her planned changes to the rules governing indefinite leave to remain (ILR) have drawn criticism from some Labour MPs, with Sir Keir Starmer’s likely successor, Andy Burnham, facing calls to scrap them.
During his by-election campaign in Makerfield, Burnham suggested he wanted a “consultation” on the proposals. However, it is reported that the former Greater Manchester mayor approved of the changes following talks with Mahmood.
Mahmood also spent Friday embroiled in a row with one of her junior ministers, Mike Tapp, after he suggested exempting care workers from her ILR reforms.
Starmer resisted her calls to sack Tapp, with Downing Street issuing a rebuke to both ministers.
The Government is also split over plans to revive a “golden visa” scheme to attract wealthy individuals to the UK, proposed by business secretary Peter Kyle, according to the Financial Times.
The proposal would allow people who invest £5m in British business to become citizens after five years, and is said to be opposed by both the Treasury and the Home Office, who are sceptical of the promised growth.
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