UK Says It Will Open New Sponsorship Routes for Eligible Refugees

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Britain’s government said it will open safe, legal routes for eligible refugees.

Britain’s government said it will open safe, 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 new routes will allow community groups, universities and employers to sponsor refugees to come to the U.K. Authorities said the plan was inspired by a similar “community sponsorship” program in Canada that has settled some 400,000 people in the country since 1979.

“I will open new legal routes for genuine refugees, while closing loopholes that have been too often abused,” Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said Friday.

At the same time, Mahmood said, a new immigration law will seek to prevent “abuse” of human rights laws and crack down on “vexatious claims.” It will tighten the definition of family so that it is restricted to immediate family members only.

Critics have said the European Convention on Human Rights is often cited to prevent the deportation of people who have no right to stay in the U.K.

The announcement came as Mahmood faces questions about whether she will remain in her post once Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves office.

Starmer announced his plan to resign on Monday after two years in office marked by missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public. He will be out of office within weeks once the governing Labour Party picks a new leader.

Immigration has become one of the most divisive political issues in Britain and across much of the Western world, as governments grapple with growing numbers of migrants fleeing conflict, poverty, climate-related crises and political persecution in search of better opportunities.

In the United Kingdom, the debate has centred on migrants making dangerous crossings of the English Channel in overcrowded boats operated by people-smuggling networks, alongside mounting political and public concern over the cost of accommodating tens of thousands of asylum seekers using public funds.

Source: AP



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