- Community groups gain power to sponsor refugees.
- Trusted universities will join an expanded sponsorship program.
- Referral program would be “capped”: Home Office.
Britain’s Home Office said it would create new legal pathways for asylum seekers, including allowing community organizations to sponsor refugees based on a similar system in place in Canada.
The system will come into place later this year, Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood said Friday evening, with “trusted” organizations and some universities able to sponsor refugees and first arrivals expected in fall 2027.
A route for employers to sponsor refugees is also expected to open next year, the Interior Ministry said in a press release.
Immigration and asylum are thorny issues in the United Kingdom, where the far-right Reform UK party has quickly gained popularity, riding a wave of anti-immigration sentiment.
Keir Starmer, who resigned as prime minister this week but will remain in power until his successor is chosen, has tried to appear tough on immigration since coming to power two years ago.
His government will present to Parliament next week a bill strengthening asylum rules, in particular by facilitating the expulsion of rejected asylum seekers and limiting the family reunification of refugees to members of their immediate family.
The immigration policies of his likely successor Andy Burnham – who could replace Starmer as soon as July – remain unclear, although he acknowledged migration concerns during his recent campaign to become an MP.
It is also unclear whether Mahmood, the outspoken face of Starmer’s immigration crackdown, will remain in his post under the next prime minister.
“I will open new legal avenues for genuine refugees, while closing loopholes that have too often been abused,” Mahmood said in a statement.
The new sponsorship scheme will “operate at a much higher capacity” than the UK’s resettlement scheme, which took in around 800 people in the year ending September 2025.
The Home Office did not say how many refugees could benefit from the scheme, but said it would be “capped”.
Previous sponsorship programs targeted certain countries, including the resettlement of refugees from Syria or Afghanistan.
Earlier this year, Mahmood faced criticism from charities and within her own party over strict regulations, including making refugee status temporary and banning study visas for some countries, including Afghanistan, Myanmar and Sudan.
