UK's first visa ban in asylum crackdown | Politics News

The federal government will halt visa routes for nationals from 4 nations who the house secretary says have “abused” the UK’s generosity.

An emergency brake is being positioned on research visas for folks from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan, whereas work visas have additionally been stopped for Afghans.

It is the primary time such visa bans have been carried out by the UK authorities.

Shabana Mahmood claimed a rising variety of migrants from these nations are utilizing authorized migration routes as a backdoor for claiming asylum.

In line with Dwelling Workplace figures, 39% of the 100,000 who claimed asylum in 2025 did so after arriving by way of a authorized migration route.

A spike in asylum purposes between 2021 and September final yr was dominated by college students from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, and Sudan.

Ms Mahmood mentioned: “Britain will all the time present refuge to folks fleeing battle and persecution, however our visa system should not be abused. That’s the reason I’m taking the unprecedented determination to refuse visas for these nationals searching for to use our generosity.”

The bans shall be formally launched on Thursday, when Ms Mahmood will lay out measures to toughen up the asylum system.

They would come with asylum seekers having to have their refugee status reviewed every two-and-a-half years.

Refugees whose nations are deemed secure will even be anticipated to return house.

Can Denmark’s powerful mannequin assist Labour?

Shabana Mahmood is a long-term admirer of how Denmark offers with asylum and immigration, and has visited since turning into house secretary.

Denmark’s powerful stance on asylum seekers started within the mid-2010s, when Mette Frederiksen was in opposition.

Her get together, the Social Democrats, moved to make safety for asylum seekers momentary, additionally arguing that uncontrolled immigration was putting large stress on working-class communities.

Since coming into workplace, Ms Frederiksen’s authorities has decreased the variety of asylum purposes to its lowest quantity in 40 years and eliminated 95% of rejected asylum seekers.

Denmark’s system additionally appears to be like to discourage new arrivals by largely transferring to a brief keep mannequin, the place most asylum seekers are despatched again to their house nation as soon as they’re deemed secure.

Learn extra on Sky Information
How UK and Denmark’s immigration policies compare

Ms Mahmood’s harder method would not sit comfortably with many Labour MPs, however she has warned a failure to handle the general public’s issues about immigration will result in a right-wing authorities.

However the authorities can also be coming below stress from its left flank, after the Greens won the year’s first Westminster by-election.

Ms Mahmood has argued the extent of unlawful immigration is “creating division inside communities throughout the nation”, risking the erosion of public help for the asylum system solely.

The federal government has dedicated to ending the usage of resorts to accommodate asylum seekers by the following election, although its plans for utilizing outdated army websites are also proving unpopular.

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