In her speech at the Labour Party conference, the new Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, outlined plans to overhaul the rules for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). We’re extremely concerned that this will create a two-tier system that punishes people for needing support.
ILR grants people the right to live and work in the UK without time restrictions, for as long as they like. For many people, it is the final step before becoming a British citizen. For people who have sought safety in the UK, like the refugee women we support, obtaining ILR grants them the right to live, work and study in the UK permanently. It is often the final step to finally feeling safe and fully welcome in the UK.
Proposed changes include:
- The time someone must live in the UK to be eligible for ILR from 5 to 10 years.
- Never having received welfare benefits – a vital safety net for many people in hardship.
- Having volunteered in your community for a local cause.
- Being in employment.
These changes, veiled in the language of fairness and contribution, are in reality, restrictive and harmful:
- It creates even more barriers for those who come to the UK seeking safety.
- It forces people to make an impossible trade-off and punishes people for needing help.
- It sends the message that people will never have a permanent home in Britain.
We’re extremely concerned this will create a two-tier system that effectively punishes people for needing support. We know from our work supporting refugee women every day, that these proposed changes will make it incredibly difficult – if not impossible – for many refugee women to receive ILR.
When people are granted their refugee status, they have just 28 days to:
- Find new accommodation
- Find employment
- Open a bank account
and much more.
For people who have been forcibly banned from work whilst waiting for a decision on their claim, the safety net of welfare support is vital to prevent homelessness and destitution. Forcing people to choose between short-term security – such as receiving welfare support – or long-term security – ILR in the UK is incredibly cruel.
We all need support at times in our lives. No matter who we are or where we come from.
Yet these proposed changes send a clear message: if you fall into hardship and need support, you will be punished and will never be able to receive ILR in the UK.
If the Government truly wants to distance itself from the harmful politics of Reform UK, it must urgently reconsider the direction it is heading in. Hostile policies veiled in the language of fairness are a sheep in wolf’s clothing. These changes will undoubtedly cause huge harm.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: compassion, not cruelty.