Shabana Mahmood’s attack on migrant rights continues. Following her announcement to double – and in some cases, triple – the length of time that migrants have to wait before getting settled status, the Home Secretary has now opened several new fronts.

Refugees targeted

The first is the decision that all new refugees entering the UK will be told that their right to stay is only temporary, to be reviewed every thirty months. The copying of Denmark’s draconian system has been widely criticised, not least by the Law Society of England and Wales’s President, Mark Evans. He said: “The changes stand in tension with Article 34 of the refugee convention, under which the UK has agreed to facilitate as far as possible the assimilation and naturalisation of refugees.”

Sophie McCann, of Médecins Sans Frontières UK, called the decision “cruel”, adding: “Embedding prolonged uncertainty and fear within the asylum system will create further psychological harm and inhibit refugees’ – including our patients’ – ability to heal from their experiences and rebuild their lives with dignity.”

Daniel Sohege, Director of the human rights advocacy and support organisation Stand For All, commented: “Leaving people in limbo, without any guarantee of security, creates the additional issue of placing them in more precarious positions. It is already shown that this increases the risks of both people becoming undocumented and of people being exploited, particularly by human traffickers. This would create a result from this policy which is entirely at odds with this government’s claim that they are focused on reducing the number of undocumented migrants and tackling exploitation and human trafficking.”

The policy is also at odds with the government’s claim to be focused on reducing division and increasing integration. Many Labour local authorities, particularly in urban areas with a high proportion of residents born overseas, are keen to tell a positive story about inclusivity and integration. Sheila Chapman, who is Islington Council’s Executive Member for Equalities, Communities and Inclusion called the announcement “really unwelcome.”

She added: “Making refugee protection temporary will make our work harder. It creates divides in our community as refugees are presented with yet another barrier to integration. For those who are not able to move on to work or study visas, the threat of deportation will loom over their lives and the lives of their dependents.

“We know firsthand the benefit that refugees have brought for generations. They become our neighbours, our classmates, our friends and family, and we do not agree that they should be made to leave.”

She has written to Shabana Mahmood, urging her to reconsider. Backbench Labour MP are also unhappy.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP said: “Those fleeing disaster and conflict deserve certainty and dignity, not repeated questioning of their right to feel safe. Progressive, humane policies strengthen communities.  Division does not. We can choose compassion, and we should.”

Imran Hussain MP tweeted: “Making refugee status temporary and subject to review every 30 months is deeply misguided. It undermines the post war refugee protections Britain helped build and will fuel more insecurity and hostility towards people seeking safety.  These changes must stop before we slide further down a dangerous path.”

And former Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott MP questioned: “After Labour’s drubbing in Gorton, this is the response??? My party implementing policies that used to get you thrown out of the Tory party.” Many others are also asking why Labour is aping the policies of Reform UK – particularly after the latter’s comprehensive drubbing in the Gorton and Denton byelection last week.

Study visas restricted

Midweek, the Home Secretary announced a new crackdown on issuing study visas, saying they would no longer be made available to people from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan from this month. Skilled work visas to Afghans will also be stopped. All the countries targeted are in the midst of civil wars, with very high levels of civilian casualties and human rights abuses.

The University and College Union responded: “This attack on international students isn’t really about reducing asylum claims, it’s about aping Reform to try and win back votes. The Greens’ destruction of Labour in the Gorton and Denton by-election should have been a wakeup call – these tactics aren’t just immoral; they’re political suicide.”

National Union of Students president Amira Campbell said the move was “deeply immoral”. She said: “The ambition of the next generation is not paused during conflict. Which is why it is even more important that students from countries facing conflict or humanitarian disasters can come to the UK, access our world-leading education system and share their experiences with other students on campus.”

New restrictions

Then on Thursday, the Home Secretary, in a flagship speech, announced new measures, including a requirement that to be granted permanent settlement, immigrants must attain a higher standard of English language.

Echoing Reform UK, she said the current system was “out of control”.  But Sile Reynolds, Head of Asylum Advocacy at Freedom from Torture, warned that Shabana Mahmood’s plans to remove accommodation and financial support from some asylum seekers will leave people homeless.

The Refugee Council agreed, saying the plans could lead to an uptick in rough sleeping, shifting costs to local councils and the NHS. Imran Hussain, its director of external affairs, said speeding up slow decision-making was a “far more effective” way to reduce costs.

The plans triggered an immediate backlash from Labour MPs. Tony Vaughan, the Labour MP for Folkestone and Hythe, organised a letter that he said had been signed by 100 of his party colleagues, saying the proposals undermined the government’s commitment to integration and social cohesion.

Stella Creasy, MP for Walthamstow, who said: “There’s no ‘fairness’ in repeatedly spending money on asking victims of trafficking and civil war if they are still in that category.” Sarah Owen, a leader of the Tribune group of centre-left Labour MPs, said: “The idea of deporting children mimics Trump’s ICE detention of children.”

These latest attacks follow last month’s proposal to make migrants wait longer before being allowed Indefinite Leave to Remain, which large numbers of Labour backbenchers outspokenly criticised in Parliament.

Corbyn broadside

Islington North Independent MP Jeremy Corbyn told the Home Secretary: “The premise of the proposals is fundamentally unfair and unjust, and it is deeply disturbing that these rules are being pushed through via secondary legislation without Parliamentary scrutiny. It is therefore no surprise that little attention has been paid to safeguarding those most vulnerable to exploitative employees, people with caring responsibilities, individuals trapped in abusive relationships, and children.”

He called the proposals “fundamentally unjust. They are set to apply retroactively, affecting many already living and working in the country, some of whom are mere months away from qualifying for settlement.” He added: “The criteria for reducing and increasing the qualifying period favour one group of people only: those on high income. In practice this means that following a decade of austerity, wage stagnation and a cost-of-living crisis, the vast majority of applicants will face a harder life and at worst, be susceptible to exploitation.”

He said the proposals were inconsistent with the government’s own rhetoric: “In 2024, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care emphasised the need for carers to be ‘respected as professionals’. Yet it is carers who are having their minimum qualifying period extended from 5 to 15 years, leaving them vulnerable to predatory relationships as they rely entirely on individual company sponsorships. This callous treatment of migrants will likely achieve the goal of a decrease in legal migration. However, at a time when 111,000 posts remain unfilled in the care sector, it would be a hollow victory with devastating consequences for the vulnerable and elderly.”,

He said the prolonged temporary status migrants would now face would hit children particularly and could prevent them from feeling truly integrated as they continually are forced to rely on visa extensions. This would put vulnerable children at risk of social and cultural alienation.

He concluded: “People who migrate and make this country their home make enormous social and economic contributions to society. In the current climate of rising anti-immigrant sentiment pushed by far-right-racism, it is alarming to see this government amplify, through these changes, the false assumption that migrants are a burden to society.”

Rogue employers

The latest targeting of migrants comes at a time when Home Office action against rogue employers has hit an all-time high. The Government has revoked a record 1,516 sponsor licences from businesses in October to December 2025, with new data revealing exploitation of sponsored workers goes far beyond the care sector. Penalising exploitative employers is no bad thing – but the current approach also hits those who work for them, who lose their jobs and visas and end up destitute.

Work Rights Centre analysis of official immigration statistics finds that the Home Office revoked a record number of licences from businesses in 2025, totalling 3,100 revocations. This is the highest number of revocations in any year since records began in 2012. 

Chief executive of the Work Rights Centre, Dr Dora-Olivia Vicol said: “We welcome increased action to hold exploitative employers accountable, but this should not come at the cost of migrant workers being left out in the cold. Every licence revocation means all migrant workers sponsored by that employer will lose their income and risk losing their immigration status. 

“Migrant workers must not be punished for the crimes of their employers. This is not only unjust, but creates a disincentive for all workers to report exploitation, giving unscrupulous employers free rein to exploit as they please. 

“Ministers have not done enough to support migrant workers who have fallen victim to unscrupulous employers and the UK’s broken immigration system. They were abandoned as collateral damage in the Home Office’s crackdown on rogue employers, many of which should never have been given a licence to sponsor migrant workers in the first place. 

More analysis of Work Rights Centre’s Freedom of Information Request data can be found in its new publication: Home Office enforcement against exploitative sponsors hits all-time high, but fails to protect victims. Work Rights Centre is a charity dedicated to ending in-work poverty.

Image: c/o Labour Hub.