The United Kingdom is on the cusp of its most significant overhaul of asylum and immigration policy in decades, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood set to announce sweeping reforms on November 17, 2025. The new measures, which the Home Office has called "the most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in modern times," are aimed at making it easier to deport illegal migrants and reducing the number of asylum claims, according to reporting from The i Paper, Nation Cymru, and Sky News.
At the heart of the proposed changes is a shift toward a model inspired by Denmark—where asylum claims are at a 40-year low, and 95% of failed asylum seekers are deported. A delegation of senior Home Office officials recently traveled to Copenhagen to study Denmark's policies, which include tight restrictions on family reunification and limiting most refugees to temporary stays, with residence permits reviewed every one to two years.
Mahmood’s reforms are expected to fundamentally alter the UK’s approach to asylum. Currently, those granted refugee status in Britain receive protection for five years, after which they may apply for indefinite leave to remain and eventually citizenship. Under the new system, refugee status will become temporary and subject to regular review, with removal as soon as an individual’s home country is deemed safe. An ally of the Home Secretary told Nation Cymru: “Today, becoming a refugee equals a lifetime of protection in Britain. Mahmood will change that, making refugee status temporary and subject to regular review. The moment your home country is safe to return to, you will be removed.”
Mahmood herself described the plans as “the most significant changes to our asylum system in modern times,” pointing to the rising numbers of asylum claims in the UK while numbers fall across Europe. Home Office figures show that 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025—the highest number for any 12-month period since records began in 2001.
One of the most contentious aspects of the reforms involves the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Mahmood is considering measures to prevent people who have entered the UK illegally from using Article 8—the right to family life—to block deportations. The proposed changes would require judges to prioritize public safety over family life rights or the risk that deportees would face "inhuman" treatment upon return, as reported by The Telegraph and Sky News.
Modern slavery legislation will also be overhauled. The new "one-stop shop" approach will require migrants to declare immediately if they are victims of modern slavery, a move aimed at reducing what the Home Office sees as abuse of the system and delays in deportation. According to The Times, migrants will no longer be able to raise modern slavery claims unexpectedly later in the process, which has previously resulted in protracted legal battles and delayed removals.
Mahmood has also announced plans to block those granted asylum in the UK from bringing their spouses, children, or other family members to join them—a direct nod to Denmark’s restrictions on family reunification. In Denmark, most refugees are only granted temporary residence, and those wishing to settle permanently must meet stringent employment and language requirements, as well as maintain a clean criminal record and avoid public benefits. The UK currently has no equivalent conditions, but Mahmood’s proposals would require migrants seeking settlement to learn English to a high standard, work, volunteer in their community, and avoid criminal convictions.
Alan Manning, a former chair of the UK Government’s migration advisory committee and a professor at the London School of Economics, told The i Paper that "reform of the ECHR is important" and that Article 8 has sometimes been used to avoid deportation of foreign criminals, often focusing on the rights of their children and families rather than the individuals themselves. He added, “I personally think that the way they’re moving is the right direction.”
Mihnea Cuibus, a researcher at the University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory, noted that it is difficult to assess the effectiveness of the proposed policies without seeing the details. However, he acknowledged that a "one-stop shop" for modern slavery claims could help limit abuses and that making asylum status temporary would arguably be “the most major” change to the UK system. Cuibus cautioned, “The question is, how far is the Government willing to go towards a so-called Danish model? Because the conditions in the Danish system are much, much stricter.”
Despite the ambitious nature of the reforms, experts warn that their effectiveness in reducing asylum claims may be limited by broader factors. Cuibus pointed out that violence and political instability in other countries are major drivers of migration, and the UK’s existing large diasporas, colonial ties, and use of the English language make it an attractive destination regardless of policy changes. Manning echoed this, saying, “There’s no magic solution here, which makes this all just go away from the Government’s perspective. These aren’t the big factors that influence the flows. Obviously, the big drivers are conflict elsewhere in the world and so on. But I think these are the tools that the Government has at its disposal.”
Since Labour came to power in July 2024, the UK has seen record levels of immigration enforcement, with 48,560 people removed from the country—a 23% increase compared to the 16 months prior to the last election, according to Sky News. Mahmood emphasized, “We’ve ramped up enforcement, deported foreign criminals from our streets, and saved taxpayers millions.” Yet, despite these efforts, small boat crossings across the English Channel continue to rise. By November 15, 2025, 39,075 people had arrived in the UK via this route, surpassing the totals for 2023 and 2024, though still 5% lower than the equivalent point in 2022.
The government’s pilot scheme with France, launched in August 2025, has removed 113 people back to the continent and allowed 92 arrivals via approved safe routes. However, the scale of arrivals continues to challenge the system, and the reforms are seen as a bid to address both the "pull factors" that attract migrants and the legal barriers that make deportations difficult.
While some research has suggested that deterrence policies have little impact on asylum seekers’ choice of destination, a 2017 study cited by Nation Cymru found that Denmark’s "negative nation branding" had been effective in limiting applications. Yet, as Cuibus and Manning both stress, the ultimate impact of Mahmood’s reforms will depend on their precise details and the broader international context.
As the UK prepares for this historic policy shift, the debate continues over how far the government should go in tightening its asylum system—and whether such changes can truly address the complex realities of migration in the modern world.
