Southwark (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Southwark Council’s leader urges Labour ministers to reconsider “deeply concerning” plans to reform the UK asylum system, warning of impacts on migrants.
The revisions run the risk of increasing homelessness and traumatizing children, according to a strongly worded statement signed by Cllr. Sarah King, her deputy leader Cllr. Jasmine Ali, and six community organizations.
“We share the aim of ending dangerous small-boat crossings and tackling the criminal gangs who exploit vulnerable people,”
the statement says.
“But we do not believe that creating a 20-year route to settlement, separating families, and increasing risks of destitution is the right way to do it.”
The plans were published by the government two weeks ago and contain strong measures to crack down on the number of individuals seeking asylum in the UK, including a requirement for refugees to wait 20 years before they can apply to stay permanently.
They have proved problematic with Labour MPs, at least 20 of whom have publicly expressed their objections. The five MPs for Southwark have not yet voiced opposition to the measures.
Cllr King’s intervention comes after she lost one of her own councillors last weekend, Darren Merill, who resigned from the council after the asylum measures were announced, denouncing the “rightward shift” of the government.
The government’s plans would require refugees to reapply for temporary stays every two and a half years instead of the current five.
Additionally, there are plans to change how Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights is applied, which forbids deportation of those who have relatives in the UK due to their right to a family life.
Representatives from Community Southwark, Southwark Refugee Communities Forum, Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers, Southwark Law Centre, Citizens Advice Southwark, and Surrey Square Primary School signed the statement issued by Southwark, which stated:
“Placing refugees on short, temporary grants of leave for up to 20 years, with no clear route to a secure future, risks leaving children and young people growing up in long-term uncertainty.
It undermines integration, stability, and people’s ability to rebuild their lives.
Restricting routes for family reunion is equally troubling. Keeping spouses and children apart does not enhance safety; it risks pushing more people towards dangerous journeys and into the hands of traffickers.”
The signatories claimed the “most troubling” plan was the one to deport asylum seekers who have their applications dismissed, including children born in the UK, which “risks adding enormous trauma to an already deeply painful process”.
“Removing support and making the right to work even more complex risks creating a new crisis of homelessness and destitution which will threaten social cohesion,”
the statement continued, referring to a proposal to cease providing the weekly £49.18 allowance to asylum seekers who have the right to work in the UK and are able to support themselves.
Concluding, the letter states:
“We therefore urge the government to rethink these proposals, to protect family life, and to focus on safe routes, international cooperation, and effective action against criminal gangs, rather than measures that penalise the people those gangs have already exploited.
As a Borough of Sanctuary, our commitment is clear: we want a system that offers safety, dignity, and the chance to belong.”
The Home Office was approached for comment.
How will the proposed asylum reforms affect Southwark services for refugees?
The proposed shelter reforms ending automatic indefinite leave after 5 times, introducing temporary status with 30- month checks, and cutting benefits for work-able campaigners will overwhelm Southwark’s casing services.
With shelter campaigners (over from 100 in 2019) and 40 foreign- born residents, evictions from NASS accommodation post-grant will spike low- precedence homelessness, as seen in recent surges straining PRS access and drop- sways like St Giles Centre. Council lacks duty to house them, aggravating the 2,363 on state support.
Reforms threaten harming children by driving families through returns or pauperism, contradicting Southwark’s Borough of Sanctuary status( resettling 400 families). Increased demand on social care, education (ESOL/ life chops), and VCS support like Southwark Refugee Communities Forum will divert coffers from locals amid summer demurrers and anti-migrant pressures.