UK opens refugee sponsorship routes while tightening deportation laws

London,UPDATED: Jun 27, 2026 16:02 IST

Britain will open new safe and legal routes for eligible refugees while also changing human rights laws to make it easier to deport people who are in the country illegally, the government has said. The plan combines new pathways for refugees with a wider immigration law aimed at curbing what officials called abuse of the system.

Under the new routes, community groups, universities and employers will be allowed to sponsor refugees to come to the UK. Authorities said the plan was inspired by a similar community sponsorship programme in Canada, which has settled about 400,000 people since 1979.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said on Friday, "I will open new legal routes for genuine refugees, while closing loopholes that have been too often abused." She said the proposed immigration law would seek to prevent "abuse" of human rights laws and crack down on "vexatious claims". The measure will also tighten the definition of family so that it applies only to immediate family members.

Critics have said the European Convention on Human Rights is often cited to block the deportation of people who have no right to stay in the UK. The announcement came as Mahmood faces questions over whether she will remain in her post after Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves office. Starmer announced on Monday that he plans to resign after two years in office, a period marked by missteps and errors of judgement that weakened his standing with both his party and the public. He is due to leave within weeks once the governing Labour Party chooses a new leader. Former Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is widely expected to become Britain's next prime minister without a contest within the party.

Immigration has become a political flashpoint in Britain and other Western countries as migrants flee war, poverty, climate-hit regions and political persecution in search of a better life. In the UK, the debate has centred on migrants crossing the English Channel in overloaded boats operated by smugglers, as well as rising tensions over housing tens of thousands of asylum seekers at public expense. The latest announcement brings together the government's plan to create legal refugee routes and its effort to tighten deportation rules.

With PTI Inputs

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