黑瓜吃料网

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will announce reforms to the UK's asylum policy later today (Mon, 17 November). 

Dr Ruvi Ziegler, Associate Professor in International Refugee Law at the 黑瓜吃料网, comments on the proposed changes. To request interviews, contact the 黑瓜吃料网 Press Office on 0118 378 5757 or pressoffice@reading.ac.uk. 

Dr Ziegler said: “The Labour government plans to make it harder for recognised refugees, namely people the government itself has determined to be in need of protection, to remain long-term in the UK than for any other migrants. 

“Refugees will now have to wait 20 years before they are eligible for settlement. This policy is contrary to the UK’s international law obligations under Article 34 of the 1951 Refugee Convention. Countries signed up to the convention must 'as far as possible facilitate the assimilation and naturalisation of refugees' and 'in particular make every effort to expedite naturalisation proceedings...'. It makes the UK an outlier among liberal democracies. 

“The asylum policy changes condemn refugees in this country to ongoing, prolonged uncertainty, which consequently harms integration. Incidentally, it also condemns an under-resourced and ill-functioning asylum system to unnecessarily conduct tens of thousands of re-assessments each year.”