UK refugee resettlement falls more than quarter

By Aysu Bicer

LONDON (AA) – The number of refugees allowed to settle in the UK under UN-backed resettlement schemes has fallen sharply, according to newly released Home Office figures.

Just 7,271 people were granted protection in the year to September 2025, a 26% drop from the 9,872 admitted over the same period in 2024.

About half of those resettled were Afghans placed at risk following an accidental data breach by a UK defense official, the data showed.

The decline comes two weeks after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood defended the government’s tougher asylum approach, saying she would soon introduce three new “safe and legal” routes for what she described as a “modest” number of applicants.

A scheme that allowed refugees to bring family members to the UK was suspended in September.

Peter William Walsh, a researcher at the Migration Observatory at Oxford University, told Anadolu that the government’s proposed reforms, which would introduce temporary protection, extend the timeline to settlement and tighten family reunion rules, risk creating prolonged insecurity for many refugees.

“The UK government’s proposed reforms would make the UK, on paper, one of the most restrictive asylum systems in Europe, with far longer waits for settlement, tighter family reunion rules, and a shift towards temporary rather than secure protection,” he said.

Under the draft reforms, refugees would no longer receive automatic indefinite leave to remain. Instead, their protection would be granted for 30 months at a time, subject to review. Permanent settlement, currently possible after five years, would become available only after 20 years.

The tightening of family reunion rules forms another key part of the overhaul. The government has already suspended automatic family reunion for people granted refugee status or humanitarian protection.