It’s been a busy month. Here is what you need to you know, in a nutshell, and why now is the time to get involved.

What’s been happening in Parliament? 
You will remember in the last newsletter we shared the latest hostile policies. The Home Secretary announced the changes in Parliament on 5th March, presenting a Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules (HC 1691), which describes what is changing to the Immigration rules and when those changes take effect. 

At the same time, the government introduced a Statutory Instrument (SI) affecting asylum support (housing and money). A Statutory Instrument is a set of legal rules made by the government under powers in an existing Act of Parliament, with a set timeline. Under this timeline, the substantial changes announced by the Home Secretary will come into force as law without Parliamentary debate or scrutiny. And that date is tomorrow – 27th March 2026. 

However, under an obscure parliamentary procedure, it may not be quite the end of the line. Walthamstow MP, Stella Creasy, tabled an Early Day Motion to push for a debate in the House of Commons. But, in the face of a government determined to enforce these rules, we aren’t feeling particularly hopeful. 

What’s changed?🔸 Refugee status is now temporary – protection will normally be reviewed every 30 months – leading to constant uncertainty.  
🔸 Refugees may be forced to return if their country is deemed ‘safe’ by the government. In theory, this is already happening, but we expect it to intensify. 
🔸 Settlement is no longer a ‘right’, but must be ‘earned’ – focusing on arbitrary and divisive requirements such as ‘character’, ‘integration’, ‘contribution’ and ‘residence’.  
🔸 Further restrictions on the permission to work – and at the same time, changes to support rules that are giving the Home Office power to suspend or stop support. 

What’s still be to decided?🔸 10-year settlement (‘earned’ settlement): 5 years to 10 years as the new baseline, but the consultation proposes 20 years for refugees on core protection and up to 30 years in some cases. The official position is that this is still consultation stage rather than implementation stage.*
🔸 Family returns consultation: a proposal for a tougher approach to families with children who have no legal right to remain, with stronger pressure to leave voluntarily and a clearer willingness to enforce removal if they do not. It also includes a pilot of higher voluntary return payments.*

In addition, at least some of these changes could be applied retrospectively!

What is also particularly insidious about these policies, is that they are framed in such exclusionary terms with complex sets of rules that are engineered to confuse and instil fear. And, of course, at the same time, the government is ramping up raids, detentions and deportations – proudly boasting that ‘raids are at the highest level in UK history’.
Raids are brutal and they are racist. Raids mean no-one is safe!

What’s been our response?