Home Office to introduce new asylum routes to UK

The Home Office is to introduce new "capped safe and legal" routes for asylum seekers to arrive in the UK later this year. The department said it would allow organisations like universities, community groups and businesses to sponsor refugees who apply to come to Britain, a model based on Canada's asylum system. Alongside the new asylum route, the government said it would press ahead with changes to how human rights and modern slavery laws are applied to asylum applications, which the government says will root out "vexatious" claims. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the new system would protect "genuine refugees" while "closing loopholes that have been too often abused". She said: "Britain has always offered sanctuary to those fleeing war and persecution. "But this system only survives if the public trusts that it is fair, controlled, and not open to abuse." The announcement came as the home secretary prepared to put the immigration bill before the Commons, where elements of it could be opposed by some Labour MPs. The UK already has a relatively small number of refugees who are sponsored in communities under the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) but the Home Office said the "vast majority" of refugees are supported by local councils. The government has been under pressure to reduce the number of people being housed in hotels at the taxpayers' expense, while illegal small boat arrivals have also undermined public confidence in the asylum system. …