UK to restart asylum resettlement scheme, Mahmood to say

Shabana Mahmood will announce the reopening of a scheme to resettle refugees in the UK as she says “fairness” is at the heart of her vision for the Home Office.

It will come as the Home Secretary focuses on safe and legal refugee routes to the UK in her Labour Party conference speech.

The UK resettlement scheme will reopen immediately, with around a quarter of those admitted to the UK under it expected to be Palestinians and women and girls from Afghanistan.

It marks a shift after the closure of the Afghan resettlement route last year.

Hundreds are expected to come to Britain under the UK resettlement scheme and three community sponsorship routes at first, growing to the “low thousands” as levels of illegal migration fall, and with a cap set each year.

They will be put on a five-year path to permanent settlement.

Most refugees admitted under the UK resettlement scheme will be referred through the UN refugee agency UNHCR, with Palestinians coming through the International Refugee Assistance Project (Irap).

Ms Mahmood will say: “Fairness is what unites us in this country. A fair society is what unlocks the very best of us. Because when people think this country is fair, they are more open and generous to others.

“When this country feels unfair, people turn inwards. They grow less willing to tolerate difference.

“I know the British people have not given up on their belief that we should be compassionate, live up to our international obligations, and save the lives of those fleeing war and persecution.”

But she will also say that limits are needed and local people must be ready to receive refugees.

She will say: “But I also know this process must be capped and controlled, and communities must be ready and able to welcome those who come here.

“This is what we can do and who we can be as we restore control to our borders, bear down on the small boat crossings, and unlock the inherent generosity of this country.”

Under other routes the Government has already committed to opening, the first arrivals of refugees sponsored by communities and students sponsored by universities are expected to arrive in autumn 2027.

And applications for an employer-sponsored refugee route will open in spring 2027, with the first arrivals expected to follow later in the year.

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting on Monday took questions about the proposal.

Asked on GB News “how many more people” the UK could take in, Mr Streeting replied: “It’s not the safe and legal routes we should worry about.

“In fact, safe and legal routes are part of the answer for how we deal with the illegal boat crossings, which the public are concerned about and we’re taking action on as a Government.”

He added Ms Mahmood had previously taken a “tough approach” towards immigration.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp called for the Government to stop taking in asylum seekers, “no matter how deserving” they are.

The Conservative frontbencher said: “Last year saw 85,000 asylum claims and 41,000 illegal immigrants cross the channel.

“We shouldn’t be shipping in any more asylum seekers, no matter how deserving, until illegal immigration has been reduced to close to zero.

“Shabana Mahmood is running scared of Angela Rayner and the Labour left.

“She is opening up our borders even more in a desperate attempt to appease them.”

The resettlement scheme stopped taking new applicants in December 2024 with some arrivals taking place after that, it is understood.

The Refugee Council said the move came amid a drastic drop in safe routes overall in the last year.

Jon Featonby, chief policy analyst at the Refugee Council, said: “We welcome the Government’s creation of new safe and legal routes for refugees to reach Britain safely, instead of taking treacherous journeys across the Channel.

“Sponsorship schemes can build on the best of the Ukrainian and Afghan programmes, which saw thousands of refugees being supported by local communities across the country.

“But this announcement much be placed in the context of the drastic reduction in safe routes over the last year. The Government shut down the Afghan scheme and stopped refugee family reunion — a step that we estimate has already prevented 20,000 refugees from applying to join family in Britain.

“Safe and legal routes are essential to undermining people smugglers’ business model, but they only work if they operate at scale.

“The Government has to show ambition and commitment, and that means thousands of places, not hundreds. Alongside any new schemes, the Government must also reopen refugee family reunion without delay.”