Keep the 5-Year ILR route for refugees. Do not extend it to 10 or 20 years

We call on the UK Government to preserve the current 5-year route (ILR) for refugees and people with humanitarian protection.

We believe that proposals to extend this period to 10 or even 20 years would create severe, long-term hardship for millions of people including children who call the UK their only home.

Many refugees have already suffered war, violence, persecution, and trauma. We think keeping them in temporary status for 10–20 years, without a stable path to settlement, is inhumane, and it could prevent families from healing, integrating, and contributing fully to society.

We urge the Government to protect the existing 5-year ILR route and ensure that refugees can rebuild their lives in safety, stability, and dignity. Finally, for many of us, this is not just about rules, we walk under a sky that offers no safety and upon a ground that gives no stability.

The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who genuinely need it. Protecting them for as long as it is needed, is in accordance with our international obligations. This will not change. The principle that people genuinely fleeing persecution should be welcomed is one this Government will always defend.

However, the system we inherited was broken. Since 2021, over 425,000 people have claimed asylum in the UK. Just a decade before (2011-2015), that figure was around 150,000. Rising arrivals and falling removals has placed considerable strain on the country and the taxpayer.

We must tackle the factors that incentivise people to come to the UK. Today, seeking asylum in Britain is more attractive than in other countries in Europe. A 5-year initial period of leave leads, almost automatically, to settled status. This means refugee status is, in effect, permanent from day one. This encourages asylum-seekers to pass through other safe countries in pursuit of asylum here.

Currently, refugees, some of whom arrive illegally, get more generous entitlements than other migrants. This is unfair to people who follow the rules of the managed migration system including British citizens. We want to make the system fairer for the British public and migrants who play by the rules.

The statement sets out a fair and firm approach to restoring order to the system, which is essential for building community cohesion. By increasing public confidence in the integrity of the asylum system, the reforms will help build trust and reduce tensions within communities.