Watch: UK's Sweeping Asylum Reforms — 20-Year Residency Rule, Visa Threats & Article 8 Changes | APT - video Dailymotion

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Britain has announced the most extensive asylum policy overhaul in modern times. Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood outlined plans to make refugee status temporary, speed up deportations of those arriving illegally, and increase the wait for permanent settlement to 20 years. The government also plans to reinterpret key parts of the ECHR and has warned Angola, Namibia, and the DRC of possible visa bans if they refuse to accept deportees. Here are the full details.  #UKNews #AsylumReform #MigrationPolicy #BritainPolitics

Transcript

00:00Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. With your permission, I will say to the British

00:07public who foot the bill, the system feels out of control and unfair. It feels that way

00:13because it is. But if we fail to deal with this crisis, we must act too. We will do so

00:23by making refugee status temporary, not permanent. A grant of refugee status will last two and

00:30a half years, not five. It will be renewed only if it is impossible for a refugee to

00:36return home. Permanent settlement will now come at 20 years, not five. I know this country

00:44welcomes people who contribute. And for those who want to stay and are willing and able

00:49to, we will create a new work and study visa route solely for refugees, with a quicker

00:56path to permanent settlement. To encourage refugees into work, we will also consult on removing

01:02benefits for those who are able to work but choose not to. Outside of the most exceptional

01:09circumstances, family reunion will not be possible. With a refugee only able to bring family over,

01:16if they have joined a work and study route and if qualifying tests are met. Asylum

01:21seekers remain in taxpayer-funded accommodation. We have already announced that we will empty

01:27asylum hotels by the end of the Parliament, and we are exploring a number of large military

01:33sites as an alternative. We will now also remove the 2005 legislation that created a duty to support

01:41asylum seekers, reverting to a legal power to do so instead. So those with income or assets will have

01:49to contribute to the cost of their stay. This will end the absurdity that we currently experience.

01:55We are an asylum seeker receiving £800 each month from his family, and who had recently acquired

02:01an Audi, was receiving free housing at the taxpayer's expense, and the courts judged that we could do

02:08nothing about the nature of our own system. In March of this year, we must also enforce our rules and

02:16remove those who have no right to be here. This will mean restarting removals to countries where they

02:23have been paused. In recent months, we have begun voluntary removal of failed asylum seekers to Syria

02:30once again. However, there are still many failed asylum seekers here from Syria, most of whom fled a regime

02:37that has since been toppled. Other countries are planning to enforce removals, and we will follow suit.

02:45Where a failed asylum seeker cannot be returned home, we will also continue to explore the possibility of

02:51return hubs, with negotiations ongoing. As order and control is restored, we will open new...

03:01and announce today that we have told Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Namibia, that if they do not

03:08comply with international rules and norms, we will impose visa penalties on them.

03:13And I am sending a wider message here. Unless other countries heed this lesson, further sanctions will follow.

03:21There is no doubt that the expanded interpretation of parts of the European Convention on Human Rights has contributed.

03:28This is particularly true of Article 8, the right to a family life. The courts have adopted an ever-expanding

03:36interpretation of this right, and as a result, many people have been allowed to come to this country when they would

03:43otherwise have had no right to. These reforms are designed to bring unity where others seek to divide.

03:50As Article 3 is an absolute right, a public interest test cannot be applied. For that reason, we are seeking reform at the Council of Europe.

04:01And we do so alongside international partners who have raised similar concerns.

04:08We are seeking reform at the Council of Europe.

04:13Taken together, Madam Deputy Speaker, these are significant reforms.

04:16They are designed to ensure our asylum system is fit for the modern world, and that we retain public consent

04:23for the very idea of providing refuge. We will always be a country that offers protection to those fleeing peril,

04:31just as we did in recent years when Ukraine was invaded, when Afghanistan was evacuated, and when we repatriated Hong Kongers.

04:39Leader of the Opposition, Kerry Baden-Ock.

04:46Madam Deputy Speaker, can I thank the Home Secretary for advance sight of her statement,

04:50most of which I read in the Sunday Telegraph, actually. But I am pleased that she is bringing forward measures

04:55to crack down on illegal immigration. It's not enough, but it is a start. And it's also a change.

05:01It's a change from her previous position in opposition of a general amnesty for illegal migrants.

05:08But I do want to praise the new Home Secretary, Madam Deputy Speaker. She's bringing fresh energy

05:13and a clearer focus to this problem. And she has got more done in 70 days in the job than her predecessor did in a year.

05:21All of our hard work, the taxpayers' money, they're the ones who have wasted their money.

Watch: UK's Sweeping Asylum Reforms — 20-Year Residency Rule, Visa Threats & Article 8 Changes | APT

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