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Britain's government said it will open safe, legal routes for eligible refugees, while also changing human rights laws to make it easier to deport people who are in the country illegally. The new routes will allow community groups, universities and employers to sponsor refugees to come to the UK. Authorities said the plan was inspired by a similar "community sponsorship" programme in Canada that has settled some 400,000 people in the country since 1979. "I will open new legal routes for genuine refugees, while closing loopholes that have been too often abused," Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said Friday. At the same time, Mahmood said, a new immigration law will seek to prevent "abuse" of human rights laws and crack down on "vexatious claims." It will tighten the definition of family so that it is restricted to immediate family members only. Critics have said the European Convention on Human Rights is often cited to prevent the deportation of people who have no right to stay in the
An Indian man who admitted smuggling migrants from the UK to France in the back of trucks has been jailed for more than five years by a court in south-east England. Jaskirat Singh, 25, was prosecuted by the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) over his role in facilitating the illegal movement of non-British nationals between December 2024 and March 2026. Earlier this month, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to facilitate illegal immigration. Singh, who was sentenced by the Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday, is believed to have earned around 185,000 pounds through the illegal operations. "The plot was exposed when 11 Indian nationals were found hiding in the trailer of a lorry stopped at Dover in December 2024. The information they provided, along with four other Indians found in a separate lorry travelling to France in January 2025, led authorities to Singh and his address in Wolverhampton," the CPS said. The CPS said an Immigration Enforcement-led investigation uncovered extensiv
Indian students and workers top the charts of foreigners leaving the UK as net migration data released in London on Thursday reflected a significant fall, nearly halved when compared to the previous year. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) analysis for 2025, around 51,000 Indians who came for study reasons, 21,000 for work reasons and 3,000 for other unspecified reasons led the exit trend followed by Chinese students and workers (46,000). Ukrainians (18,000), Pakistanis and Nigerians (both 19,000 each) completed the top five emigrating nationalities, resulting in an overall net migration fall to 1,71,000 last year. "Net migration is now at 1,71,000, down from a high of 9,44,000 under the Conservatives. This government is restoring order and control to our borders," said UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. "We will always welcome those who contribute to this country and wish to build a better life here. But we must restore order and control to our borders. As these
UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on Thursday unveiled a new pilot scheme that will offer some failed asylum seekers 10,000 pounds per person, capped at 40,000 pounds for families, to vacate British taxpayer-funded accommodation and leave the country. In a major policy speech at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank on immigration reforms in London, the South Asian heritage minister said refugees who refused to accept the "incentive payment" would face being forcibly deported. The Home Office said the scheme, inspired by a successful system in Denmark, is expected to target about 150 families in the first phase within a week, estimated to save 20 million pounds for the British taxpayers. "This government will now pilot a similar model for families who are failed asylum seekers. A small number of whom will now be offered an increased incentive payment of 10,000 pounds per person and up to a maximum of 40,000 pounds per family," said Mahmood. "To put that in ...