Shabana Mahmood has warned Labour MPs that \u201cdark forces are stirring up anger\u201d over migration, amid growing alarm among senior party figures over the most sweeping overhaul of refugee rights in a generation.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Mahmood will announce controversial new laws to overhaul refugee status, which must be reassessed every two years, as well as curbing asylum appeals and toughening the approach to rights to family life.<\/p>\n
The home secretary warned<\/a> in an article for the Guardian that anger about illegal migration could turn on second-generation immigrants such as her and rupture community relations.<\/p>\n \u201cI know that a country without secure borders is a less safe country for those who look like me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n But the Guardian understands the harshness of Mahmood\u2019s plans has led to significant unease among senior Labour<\/a> aides and ministers, with at least one on resignation watch. Two said they were particularly concerned about the plans to ramp up deportations of refugee families, including those with children.<\/p>\n Charities warned it would risk \u201canother Windrush scandal\u201d and leave refugees in near-permanent limbo, with children liable to be unrooted from schools and adults unable to build careers, and make integration harder.<\/p>\n The home secretary will announce three new safe routes for refugees to legally come to the UK from war-torn countries such as Sudan and Eritrea, but even the status of those refugees will be under constant review.<\/p>\n Mahmood confirmed on Sunday that refugees would be liable to be returned if their country was no longer deemed dangerous, with their status reviewed every 30 months, including families with young children in school.<\/p>\n The government will announce that it will legislate to toughen how courts apply the European convention on human rights (ECHR) regarding family life, enabling more deportation of people with family members still in the UK.<\/p>\n On Sunday night it also emerged that Mahmood had threatened three countries with visa bans for refusing to take people back from the UK.<\/p>\n The Times reported that Mahmood wrote to the embassies in London of Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, warning that they have a month to start cooperating on removals before a sliding scale of sanctions are imposed. Mahmood is expected to confirm the measures on Monday.<\/p>\n In her article for the Guardian, Mahmood said she knew the changes would \u201cface opposition\u201d but said the alternative would risk public support for all refugees collapsing.<\/p>\n \u201cDark forces are stirring up anger in this country, and seeking to turn that anger into hate. We must take the opportunity we have to stop that from happening. And I know we can,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cThe true nature of this country is openness, tolerance and generosity. We want to provide sanctuary to those in danger. We want to be a Greater Britain, not a littler England. To do so, we must restore order and control.\u201d<\/p>\n Mahmood will announce three \u201cmodest\u201d routes for refugees from war-torn countries such as Sudan, Palestine or Eritrea to come if they are students and those seeking to work in certain professions, as well as those sponsored by community and voluntary organisations who support them when they arrive. Refugees arriving via those routes will not be given permanent settled status.<\/p>\n Other key measures to be announced on Monday include:<\/p>\n Restricting asylum seekers to one single appeal rather than different appeals on multiple grounds.<\/p>\n Creating a new body for fast-tracking cases for dangerous criminals and those with little hope of success.<\/p>\n Legislating to restrict last-minute modern slavery claims<\/p>\n Joining other countries in seeking reform of ECHR article 3 rights, to more narrowly define the risk of torture and degrading treatment.<\/p>\n Changing the Home Office\u2019s duty to provide support to asylum seekers to a discretionary power<\/a>, enabling them to potentially be removed from accommodation.<\/p>\n Several senior aides are understood to have severe reservations about how that would affect school-age children and MPs are understood to be particularly concerned about Ukrainian refugees, many of whom brought young children who have now fully integrated into British life.<\/p>\n \u201cThese sweeping changes will mean that a child who is settled at school, studying hard for their GCSEs, will be uprooted and forcibly removed, possibly being put in detention as part of that process,\u201d the Refugee Council\u2019s Enver Solomon said, likening it to how long-settled people were treated under the Windrush scandal.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what\u2019s happening and why it matters<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Mahmood is also understood to be seeking to legislate to change the way the ECHR is interpreted by UK judges. Asylum seekers often use its provisions on right to family life in order to stay in the UK.<\/p>\n The effect of the changes could mean many more people are deported from the UK even if they have young children living here. Judges will be required to prioritise \u201cpublic safety\u201d over family rights. A Home Office source suggested this would be more likely to apply to extended family.<\/p>\n On Sunday night it also emerged that Mahmood had threatened three countries with visa bans for refusing to take people back from the UK.<\/p>\n The Times reported that Mahmood wrote to the embassies in London of Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, warning that they have a month to start cooperating on removals before a sliding scale of sanctions are imposed. Mahmood is expected to confirm the measures on Monday.<\/p>\n Mahmood is to warn concerned Labour MPs that the changes are necessary in order to address public concern about the levels of migration as well as counterattacks from Reform UK.<\/p>\n \u201cUnless we act, we risk losing popular consent for having an asylum system at all. In a country that is seeing division stirred up on our streets, we will not bring unity unless we restore order to our borders,\u201d she wrote in the Guardian.<\/p>\n \u201cMy goal is to ensure there are legal routes into this country for those who are truly fleeing peril, and for whom this is the first safe country they have encountered.\u201d<\/p>\n The Home Office has briefed widely that Mahmood has been inspired by the Danish system<\/a>, which has much tighter rules on family reunions as well as on refugee status.<\/p>\n Mahmood\u2019s predecessor, Yvette Cooper, temporarily suspended new applications in September from a family reunion route that allowed those granted asylum in the UK to bring their family.<\/p>\n Home Office sources have suggested the asylum changes will have far wider effects than anything brought in by the Conservatives.<\/p>\n