Major changes to the UK asylum system are set to come into force on Monday, with refugees no longer automatically granted long term protection.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood confirmed to BBC that asylum seekers who are granted refugee status will now receive only temporary protection. Their cases will be reviewed every 30 months and they could be returned to their country of origin if it is considered safe. Unaccompanied children will be exempt.
Speaking to the outlet, Mahmood said the government is “changing an age-old assumption of what it means to be a refugee -moving from a permanent to a temporary status”.
She said the change would make the UK less attractive to people arriving illegally.
“It will be less attractive for illegal migrants to come to our country,” she told the BBC, adding she wanted to “change the calculus in the minds of the people about to get on a boat” and warning: “We will have a much more difficult system for illegal arrivals.”
Other proposals, including doubling the time most migrants must wait for permanent residency from five to 10 years, will require parliamentary approval.
Mahmood told the BBC the reforms are critical, saying: “Honestly I really believe these reforms are existential for us as a country.”
