How will Labour's asylum shake-up work? The government's policies in detail

"Refugee status will be made temporary and reviewed every 30 months, the document reads. Currently, refugees in the UK receive a five-year initial period of leave, it says. In the future this will be reduced significantly. Critics of the policy say that, while Labour is taking rhetorical aim at those whose claims do not meet the threshold for refugee status, many of its measures are targeted at those whose claims have been successful."

"Zeena Luchowa, chair of the Law Society's immigration law committee, said: These changes seem perverse, unreasonable and punitive on individuals who are genuinely seeking asylum. Peter Walsh, senior researcher at the University of Oxford's Migration Observatory, said this appears to be based on the Danish government's model, which involves a light touch system. There are relatively few in Denmark who have their claims reviewed and are then returned. A cohort of 30,000 Syrians have received refugee status there but only a few hundred"

"According to the document, the Labour government will remove people we have not removed before, including families and cut off welfare payments to rejected asylum-seeking families with children who refuse to leave the UK. The government will offer all families financial support to enable them to return to their home country. Should they refuse that support, we will escalate to an enforced return. We will launch a consultation on the process for enforcing the removal of families, including children, the document says."

New policy makes refugee status temporary and subject to review every 30 months, replacing the current five-year initial leave with a significantly shorter period. The plan aims to reduce Channel crossings, curb bogus claims, increase removals and stop welfare for rejected asylum-seeking families with children who refuse to leave. The government will offer financial support to enable voluntary returns and escalate to enforced returns for families that refuse assistance. Measures include consultations on enforcing family removals and use of powers in the 2016 Immigration Act. Critics describe the changes as perverse, unreasonable and punitive, and compare the approach to Denmark's light-touch model where relatively few reviewed claimants are returned.

Read at www.theguardian.com