Starmer to Increase Requirements for Refugees Trying to Stay
Migrants wade into the sea to try to board boats in an attempt to cross the English Channel, off the beach of Gravelines, northern France, on Sept. 27.
Photographer: Sameer al-Doumy/AFP/Getty ImagesThe UK will no longer automatically allow refugees granted asylum to stay indefinitely or reunite with their families, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer seeks to curb the incentives for migrants crossing the English Channel.
Starmer will announce the changes on Thursday at the European Political Community summit in Copenhagen, where he will co-chair a roundtable on tackling illegal immigration. People fleeing persecution will have to “contribute” to the UK and be in the country for longer than five years before they can claim so-called settled status, Starmer will say, according to a statement from his office.