UK To Reopen Refugee Scheme Prioritising Afghan Women, Palestinians
The UK government is set to reopen a refugee resettlement scheme that will prioritise vulnerable Afghan women and girls, Palestinian refugees and people with disabilities.
The UK government is set to reopen a refugee resettlement scheme that will prioritise vulnerable Afghan women and girls, Palestinian refugees and people with disabilities.
The Guardian reported on Sunday that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to announce the reopening of the UK Resettlement Scheme at the Labour Party conference on Monday. The scheme had effectively been suspended for two years, although it was never formally closed.
Under the reopened scheme, refugees arriving through the legal route will have a more favourable path to permanent settlement than those who enter the UK through irregular routes, including small-boat crossings.
The Guardian reported that the Home Office expects Afghan women and girls and Palestinian refugees to account for about a quarter of arrivals during the initial phase. Numbers are expected to be limited at first, with an annual cap on admissions.
Home Office sources told the newspaper that the programme was likely to begin with hundreds of refugees and could expand to the low thousands in subsequent years if levels of irregular migration decline.
Eligible refugees will be identified by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP). They will undergo security and criminal-record checks before entering the UK.
Vulnerable women and girls, people with disabilities and others in urgent need of protection will be prioritised. Family units will be allowed to resettle together under the scheme, although the provision will not extend to wider family members.
Mahmood is expected to present the scheme as part of the government’s effort to balance tighter immigration controls with its commitment to protecting the most vulnerable refugees.
Reaction And Criticism
Migration experts and refugee organisations have welcomed the reopening of a safe and legal route but warned that the number of people admitted is likely to be too small to have a significant effect on the number of asylum seekers crossing the English Channel.
Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said the scheme was primarily based on the principle that Britain should play its part in protecting the world’s most vulnerable refugees.
She said, however, that there was no reason to believe resettlement alone would substantially reduce irregular arrivals.
Jon Featonby, chief policy analyst at the Refugee Council, also welcomed the creation of safe and legal routes but said such programmes could undermine the business model of people smugglers only if they operated at sufficient scale.
The scheme is also likely to face criticism from right-wing parties, including Reform UK, particularly over welfare costs and security screening.
Former Afghan MP Fawzia Koofi welcomed the UK’s plans.
Koofi said that after four years of advocacy, campaigning and correspondence, calls to protect Afghan women at risk were finally receiving a response.
She expressed hope that the Home Office would establish a mechanism allowing women at particular risk, especially those who have resisted Taliban restrictions and repression, to benefit from the scheme.
