Britain to announce proposals on asylum with refugees facing longer waits and possible return to their countries.

Shabana Mahmood, the United Kingdom’s home secretary, has said the country’s asylum system is “not working” and is placing “intense strain on communities” ahead of proposals for major government reforms that would end refugees’ automatic right to settle permanently in the UK.

Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Mahmood said undocumented migration is “tearing the country apart”.

The government’s proposals, to be unveiled on Monday, will have two main prongs. First, they would end the automatic path to settled status for refugees after five years. And second, they would remove state benefits from those who have the right to work and can support themselves.

After a summer of fierce protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers and an anti-immigration march in London, Mahmood also announced new plans to curb small-boat crossings from France as well as to return refugees to their home countries once it is safe to do so.

What are the current immigration numbers?

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that net migration – the number of people entering a country minus the number leaving – had hovered around 200,000 to 300,000 people per year since 2011.

However, after Brexit was enacted in 2020, there was a large increase in the numb