Deportations to Syria will be stepped up in the coming months as part of an asylum crackdown by Shabana Mahmood.
The Home Secretary will press ahead with the move despite violence in the country following the fall of leader Bashar al-Assad.
The decision comes as Reform UK‘s Nigel Farage is leading in the opinion polls with Labour expected to suffer major losses in May’s local elections.
Whitehall has previously talked of the “deeply concerning” unrest and the worsening humanitarian situation, the i newspaper reported.
It comes after her immigration plans were announced at the end of last year to countries seen as unsafe.
What the Home Secretary has announced
- Refugee status no longer permanent
Refugees will have to reapply every 2.5 years to stay in Britain.
If their home country is judged safe, they can be sent back.
System based on Denmark’s tougher model. - Much longer wait for citizenship
Current five-year protection cut to 30 months.
Illegal arrivals could face a 20-year wait before applying for settlement.
Refugee status reviewed regularly and can be revoked. - Ukrainians may also have to return
Once the war ends, most Ukrainians will be expected to go home, the Home Secretary said. - No more automatic benefits
Legal duty to give housing and cash support to asylum seekers will be scrapped.
Support could be removed if someone breaks the law, ignores removal orders or works illegally.
Benefits to be focused on those contributing to the UK. - AI age checks
Artificial intelligence will be used to check if people claiming to be children are under 18.
Ministers say wrong age decisions put kids at risk; critics warn the tech could misclassify children. - New “safe and legal” routes
New capped schemes allowing people to be sponsored, similar to Homes for Ukraine.
Those who come legally will have a faster, easier route to citizenship.
Skilled refugees can come for work, building on existing pilot schemes. - Major legal crackdown
Courts told to put public safety first.
Article 3 protections (torture/inhuman treatment) and Article 8 (family life) will be reinterpreted to help remove criminals.
“Immediate family” will be narrowed to parent/child only.
Modern Slavery laws tightened to stop misuess. - Confiscation system
Illegal migrants will have jewellery, watches and even cars seized to pay for their own asylum costs
Mahmood is moving in the direction of following in the footsteps of Denmark‘s hardline approach to the issue.
Our European ally deports 95 per cent of failed asylum seekers and it has dramatically reduced the backlog in claims.
The deportations could be voluntary or enforced as part of the proposals being drawn up.
But the scheme comes after Foreign Office Minister this week highlighted violence in the country which includes threats to detention camps.
Syria makes up just under 10 per cent of small boat arrivals to the UK.
A Home Office spokesman said: “We are exploring resuming enforced returns to countries where we have not routinely carried out such removals in recent years, including to Syria.”
