UK to introduce new refugee sponsorship routes later this year

LONDON: Britain’s interior ministry has said it will open new legal pathways for refugees, including a community sponsorship model under which organisations and some universities will be able to support asylum seekers under a system described as similar to one used in Canada.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said late Friday that the new arrangement would begin later this year, with the first arrivals expected in autumn 2027. In a press release, the Home Office also said a separate route allowing employers to sponsor refugees is due to open next year.

The announcement comes as immigration and asylum remain politically sensitive issues in the UK, where Reform UK has gained ground on anti-immigration sentiment. Keir Starmer, who stepped down as prime minister this week but will remain in office until a successor is chosen, has sought to project a hard line on immigration during his two years in power.

Asylum legislation due next week

The British government is set to place new legislation before parliament next week that would further tighten asylum rules. The planned measures include making it easier to remove failed asylum seekers and limiting refugee family reunion to immediate relatives.

The approach of Starmer’s likely successor, Andy Burnham, remains uncertain, though he has acknowledged public concern over migration during his recent campaign to become an MP. It is also unclear whether Mahmood, who has become the public face of Starmer’s stricter immigration policy, will remain home secretary under the next prime minister.

In a statement, Mahmood said “I will open new legal routes for genuine refugees, while closing loopholes that have been too often abused”.

Scale and limits of the scheme

The Home Office said the new sponsorship programme would function at a much greater scale than the UK Resettlement Scheme, which brought around 800 people to Britain in the year ending September 2025. However, it did not say how many people the new route could cover, adding only that the programme would be capped.

Earlier British sponsorship arrangements were aimed at specific crises and countries, including resettlement programmes for refugees from Syria and Afghanistan. Mahmood has already faced criticism this year from charities and members of her own party over tougher rules, including changes making refugee status temporary and a ban on education visas for some countries, among them Afghanistan, Myanmar and Sudan.