UK to widen refugee sponsorship routes with community and employer pathways

LONDON: Britain’s interior ministry has announced plans to expand legal pathways for refugees, including a new system under which community organisations will be able to sponsor people seeking protection, in a model described as similar to one used in Canada.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said late Friday that the community sponsorship route would be introduced later this year. Under the plan, organisations and some trusted universities will be allowed to back refugees, with the first arrivals expected in autumn 2027. The Home Office also said in a press release that 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 United Kingdom, where the hard-right Reform UK party has gained support amid anti-immigrant sentiment. Keir Starmer, who stepped down as prime minister this week but is to remain in office until a successor is selected, has sought to project a tough line on immigration since taking office two years ago.

His government is due next week to place legislation before parliament that would further tighten asylum rules. The proposed changes include making it easier to remove failed asylum seekers and limiting refugee family reunification to immediate family members.

The approach of Starmer’s likely successor, Andy Burnham, on immigration remains uncertain, though he has acknowledged concerns over migration during his recent campaign to become an MP. It is also unclear whether Mahmood will stay in her current position 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"

The Home Office said the new sponsorship programme would function on a much larger scale than the UK Resettlement Scheme, which brought about 800 people to Britain in the year ending September 2025. It did not specify how many refugees the new route would cover, but said the programme would be capped.

Earlier sponsorship initiatives were designed around specific national groups, including refugee resettlement programmes for people from Syria and Afghanistan.

Earlier this year, Mahmood drew criticism from charities and members of her own party over stricter measures that included making refugee status temporary and barring education visas for some countries, among them Afghanistan, Myanmar and Sudan.