Accused of pandering to the Right, Mahmood’s policies on ‘Restoring Order and Control’ of immigration have drawn significant backlash, with more than 24 Labour MPs having voiced concerns.
The home secretary announced sweeping changes towards the processing of asylum-seekers in the Commons this week.
Outlined in a document titled “Restoring Order and Control”, Mahmood’s measures include:
- Refugees will have to spend 20 years in the UK before being allowed to apply for settled status
- Article 8 of the European Human Rights Convention, the ‘Right to Family Life’, will no longer apply in full to refugees
- Asylum seekers with assets will have to contribute to their costs, and housing and weekly allowances will no longer be guaranteed.
- Refugees will be subject to criteria on “earned settlement”.
The Londoners spoke to immigrants and asylum-seekers in London about their opinions on Labour’s new policies.
Rodrigo Hammond, 20, a photographer in South Kensington, said: “I understand how ensuring safe and lawful immigration is an important issue for any state.
“But the home secretary is talking about changing our convention of human rights in order to deal with immigration.
“To me, that is just absurd — to suggest that fixing our system requires a denial of human rights is just downright wrong in every way.”
The suggested changes to other parts of the European Human Rights Convention drew similar concerns from several interviewees, but significantly different conclusions.
Londoner Kate Engler, 37, said: “I’m conflicted on how I feel. The changes to human rights law obviously sound wrong.
“But when you look into it, changes to Article 3 mean that migrants will have to pay for their accommodation themselves instead of the government.
“I don’t think that’s so terrible.”
The sentiment that refugees are not the responsibility of the state varied between interviewees, with several claiming Britain has a moral imperative to take in asylum-seekers.
Sufian Barghouti, 52, who lives in Ilford and works in the NHS, said: “What I struggle to understand is, why do refugees have to now ‘earn’ their right to be here?
“Why should someone born in a conflict which they have no responsibility for have to prove that they deserve to leave?
“I’ve voted Labour all my life, but I don’t think this is anything I can stand behind.”
The idea that these policies are a divergence from traditional Leftist values continues to widely inform the backlash that the Labour government continues to face from its own voters.
Jemimah Saliq, 26, said: “I’m honestly shocked. This is not a Labour policy at all. If I didn’t see Mahmood announcing it, I could’ve believed these were Reform UK’s proposals.
“The idea that someone fleeing war has to wait twenty years to know that they have a home, to know that they are safe — I don’t have the words to express how much that disgusts me.
“Why are we still putting the blame for all our problems on the most vulnerable people in this country?”
The Home Office were approached for comment.
Featured image credit: Andy Taylor via Wikimedia Commons
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