Illegal migrants will be denied right to settle in UK even if granted asylum

Proposals by Priti Patel part of new approach designed to 'break people-smugglers' business model'

Priti Patel is  is proposing that those who get asylum will only be granted 'temporary protection status'
Priti Patel is  is proposing that those who get asylum will only be granted 'temporary protection status' Credit: Jessica Taylor/AFP

Illegal migrants will be denied the right to settle in the UK even if they are granted asylum under plans by Priti Patel to crush people-smuggling.

The Home Secretary is proposing that those who get asylum will only be granted "temporary protection status", which means they will be regularly reassessed for removal from the UK, have limited family reunion rights and no access to benefits unless destitute.

Only those who come to the UK through legitimate routes – via official Government refugee schemes from war zones or to escape persecution – will be entitled to indefinite leave to remain.

The twin-track approach is designed to "break the people-smugglers' business model" as anyone they bring illegally into the UK will never enjoy citizenship and will only ever be a "temporary" member of British society at risk of removal at least every 30 months.

Home Office sources said the plans, to be enshrined in law in a Sovereign Borders Bill this autumn, met the UK's international obligations under human rights and refugee conventions – but they are likely to face a major legal challenge.

It represents the biggest shake-up in the asylum system for 50 years, and for the first time makes the way a migrant enters the UK the determinant in how an asylum claim progresses, and their eventual status. It follows a record 8,500 migrants crossing the Channel in small boats last year.

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Ms Patel, who will unveil the plans in the Commons on Wednesday, said: "Under our New Plan for Immigration, if people arrive illegally they will no longer have the same entitlements as those who arrive legally, and it will be harder for them to stay.

"If, like over 60 per cent of illegal arrivals, they have travelled through a safe country like France to get here, they will not have immediate entry into the asylum system - which is what happens today."

The Government will seek to remove those who come through safe countries. Those judged able to remain will, however, only get the new temporary protection status rather than an automatic right to settle. This will allow them to work, but no access to benefits or to bring their family to the UK.

"I make no apology for these actions being firm, but as they will also save lives and target people-smugglers, they are also undeniably fair," said Ms Patel.

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She promised extra support for "legal" refugees and "simple, safe and secure" reception centres for asylum-seekers. Sending illegal migrants to processing centres abroad remains an option as a further deterrent. 

There will be a new independent age-checking agency to stop adult migrants pretending to be children. Definitions of "well-founded fear of persecution" will be tightened to prevent "unsubstantiated" claims for refugee status.

Asylum-seekers will only have one opportunity to present their case ahead of an appeal to prevent lawyers dragging out it out with new claims. Lawyers will also face court-imposed financial penalties for pursuing "meritless" claims.

People-smugglers will face life terms, rather than the current maximum of 14 years, illegal migrants will face longer sentences, and those for deported criminals who sneak back into the UK will be increased from six months to five years.

Dangerous foreign criminals who have served a sentence of more than a year will be barred from claiming asylum by claiming to be victim of modern slavery under a shake-up of the trafficking laws.

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