Published on 6/27/2026
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Last update: 20:51 (Mecca time)
Britain is moving to redraw its policies on immigration, in a move that combines tightening procedures and an attempt to provide new paths for receiving refugees, amid widespread political debate within the Labor Party and the British government regarding the most appropriate way to deal with a file that has become one of the most sensitive issues in the country.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent in London, Asad Allah Al-Sawy, likened the British government’s position on this issue to being oscillating between two different experiences. The first is inspired by the Danish experience, which is based on stricter measures towards immigration, a trend that British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is adopting in a package of measures that she is preparing to present to Parliament within days.
These measures sparked criticism from the left wing within the Labor Party and from several members of Parliament, which prompted the Minister of the Interior to present new proposals before the end of the work week, which included benefiting from Canada’s experience in attracting refugees in a more flexible manner.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent pointed out that the Canadian model is based on allowing associations, organizations, places of worship, universities and companies to host refugees and cover their living expenses until their asylum applications are studied.
This Canadian program, which has been in place since 1979, has succeeded in receiving about 400,000 people over more than four decades, numbers that he believes will not change much of the British Home Secretary’s orientation, but they give a more humane image of the strict measures that she presented before Parliament.
Disagreements within the British government
Regarding the situation of irregular immigrants in Britain, Al Jazeera’s correspondent said that the full details of what will happen will become clear when the legislative package is presented to Parliament, indicating that the new law may reveal whether these measures will provide solutions for certain categories of asylum seekers or will remain within the framework of immigration control and tightening oversight.
The controversy over the immigration issue is not limited to laws only, but is also linked to disputes within the British government itself, as Shabana Mahmoud faces criticism from within the Labor Party, especially since she was one of the voices that did not support Prime Minister Keir Starmer in previous stages.
The dispute escalated after the Minister of State for Immigration, Mike Tapp, published an article in the press in which he called for facilitating immigration procedures, without obtaining the approval of the Home Secretary, which prompted her to demand his dismissal.
But the decision remained in the hands of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who rejected the Home Secretary’s request, stressing that the authority to make such decisions rests with the Prime Minister, in a scene that reflects the extent of the discrepancy within the British authority regarding the future of immigration policy.
Between right-wing pressure demanding tighter controls, and criticism within the Labor Party rejecting strict measures, the British government is trying to formulate a new immigration policy that balances border control and providing legal paths to receive refugees.
