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The United Kingdom has reopened a refugee resettlement scheme to provide vulnerable people fleeing war and persecution with a legal route to settle in the country.
UK Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood announced the move on Monday at the governing Labour Party’s annual conference in Liverpool, saying the scheme would form part of the government’s renewed push for “safe and legal routes” for vulnerable refugees.
The scheme, being relaunched immediately, is expected to initially admit hundreds of applicants. It will operate alongside three new community refugee sponsorship routes previously announced by the government.
Mahmood said about a quarter of those expected to benefit from the reopened resettlement programme would be Afghan women and girls and Palestinians.
“We will take vulnerable refugees from across the world and give them the chance of a new and better life here in Britain with the first arrivals this year,” she said.
The programme will be run in partnership with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), following the closure of an Afghan resettlement route last year.
Under the community sponsorship routes, charities and non-profit organisations will be able to apply within days to sponsor refugees, with the first arrivals through the programme expected in about a year.
The UK Interior Ministry said arrivals through the legal routes would eventually rise into the low thousands as irregular migration falls, although an annual cap will be imposed.
Mahmood said the government would balance humanitarian responsibilities with tighter controls, amid concerns within Labour over immigration policies that could make some legal migrants wait longer before qualifying for permanent settlement.
Housing Secretary Angela Rayner had earlier expressed concern about some of the proposed changes, saying they could “change the goalposts”.
Mahmood, however, said the British public still supported helping people fleeing conflict and persecution, while stressing that the process must remain controlled.
“I know that the British people have not given up on their belief that we should be compassionate, live up to our international obligations, and save the lives of those fleeing war and persecution,” she said.
“But I also know this process must be capped and controlled, with communities ready and able to welcome those who come here.”
