Home secretary Shabana Mahmood has spoken about feeling a “shiver of revulsion and fear” at the sight of “racists masked up, dressed all in black” as she announced the reopening of a scheme for vulnerable refugees to come to the UK.
Speaking to Labour conference in Liverpool on Monday, Ms Mahmood pledged to restore fairness and control to the UK’s migration system, saying: “It is not fair that those with a genuine need of protection cannot find a safe and legal way to claim asylum.”
Ms Mahmood announced that from next month charities and nonprofits, and universities, will be able to sponsor refugees to come to the UK under two bespoke pathways. The government will also reopen the UK resettlement route, which will partner with the United Nations to bring vulnerable refugees to Britain for a better life.
The limited scheme will see hundreds of refugees brought to the UK each year, with one in four arrivals expected to be Afghan women and girls and Palestinians.
The home secretary told Labour members that she understood “the fear that some communities have felt in recent times”, adding: “I have felt the same shiver of revulsion and fear at the sight of racists masked up, dressed all in black, whose actions are designed to threaten communities like mine”.
Her comments come after hundreds of masked men dressed in black blocked roads in Dover earlier this month in an apparent protest against illegal migration.
The home secretary also defended her contentious reforms to legal settlement in the UK, which will make it harder for many foreign nationals to get permanent leave to remain in Britain.
Under the proposals, the standard qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain would be increased from five years to ten. Migrants on care visas would have to wait up to 15 years.
She told Labour members in Liverpool: "I know that, throughout our consultation process, some have said elements of these reforms are not fair. To that: let me say this. We will come to a position that balances fairness for those who came here legally, and fairness to British citizens across this country."
Her comments were interpreted by some as signalling a watering down of the reforms, following an intervention by Angela Rayner over the weekend who said the plans would make it harder for foreign care workers to claim permanent residence in the UK.
Speaking later at a fringe event at Labour conference, Ms Mahmood said the finalised plans will be set out later this year. She said her comments on fairness in her speech were “an articulation of the principles” that will underpin the future decisions.
She told journalist Tom McTague: “I am very clear that the test will be one of fairness, fairness of those who have come and fairness for British citizens. It's a question of finding the right balance for that fairness”.
She added that the care visa route had not worked "as it should have done", with abuse of the pathway and many care providers having their right to sponsor visas revoked. She said that the UK had experienced an unprecedented influx of migration under the previous Conservative government and that "you've got to come up with answers for that level of public challenge".
On Monday, prime minister Andy Burnham rejected suggestions Ms Mahmood’s planned visa changes may not happen because Ms Rayner viewed them as “un-British”, but said reforms would need to “strike the right balance”.
Asked whether he was “Team Shabana” or “Team Angela,” he told LBC: “I’m both of them, I’m Team Angela and Shabana.”
In her speech to conference, Ms Mahmood also addressed fears felt by the Jewish community who have been “subject to rising antisemitism, and targeted by the hostile acts of foreign powers, who plot violence against our fellow countrymen and women”.
She added: “I know there is more we must do, to tackle the threats ranged against us. And I think particularly of the new and growing threat posed by young minds warped, online and alone.”
At the start of her speech, the home secretary addressed ongoing events at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. Five men were arrested on suspicion of terror offences on Sunday but have now been released on bail.
Ms Mahmood praised the "spirit of resilience" of the residents living near the RAF base, which is used by the US military, saying: "They represent the very best of our country". She said the recent events were "a reminder that at a time of heightened threat we must all remain vigilant".
Responding to Ms Mahmood’s comments, Dr Dora-Olivia Vicol, CEO of the Work Rights Centre said: “Safe and legal routes for people fleeing humanitarian crises are desperately needed. But, earlier this year in March, the home secretary excluded Afghanistan from the list of countries from which nationals are eligible to apply for Study and Work visa routes, undermining that very objective.
“While today’s announcement is welcome, Ms Mahmood has threatened to implement the biggest restrictions to settlement in a generation, which would force refugees into a lifetime of insecurity.”
Mubeen Bhutta, British Red Cross director of policy, said reopening the UK resettlement scheme “will bring hope to people seeking safety”, but questioned why the refugee family reunion route, which has been suspended for a year, remains closed.
