Politics Home | Asylum Reforms Could Put More Pressure On Mental Health Services, Home Office Warned

(Alamy)

4 min read13 min

In a letter sent to Shabana Mahmood this week, Freedom from Torture, Médecins Sans Frontières UK, Doctors of the World UK, The Helen Bamber Foundation and the British Medical Association (BMA) warned that reducing the period of leave granted to recognised refugees in the UK would have an “unintended but undoubtedly harmful impact”.

It comes as the NHS continues to report record numbers of people contacting the service for mental health support. 

The Home Office announced last year that refugee status would be temporary and subject to review every 30 months for all adults claiming asylum.

It was part of the Labour government’s broader efforts to deter illegal immigration, inspired by what Mahmood has described as the success of Denmark’s approach to reducing arrivals.

The government has also extended the automatic qualifying period for awarding Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) from five to 10 years. 

Mahmood and supportive Labour MPs argue that reducing immigration is key to taking on Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and improving their party’s prospects at the next general election.

In a speech last month, the Home Secretary said that Britain is more attractive than other countries in Europe for those seeking refugee status, and warned her party that the system in its current form is “eroding trust” with the public.

“For those who come to this country and want to contribute to our national life, I am clear they should have a path to settlement and ultimately citizenship. But it is essential that the privilege of living in this country is earned, not automatic,” she said.

However, the changes have attracted criticism from other parts of the party, including former deputy leader Angela Rayner and shadow cabinet minister Emily Thornberry, who wrote in The House last week that reforms to IRL are “the opposite of fairness”. Over 100 Labour MPs signed a letter organised by backbencher Tony Vaughan expressing concern about the policy.

Now, a letter, sent by the coalition of organisations, seen by PoliticsHome, has warned that the proposals would “strip torture survivors and other refugees of long-term legal protection and the stability they need to recover from past traumas, leading to further, avoidable distress and mental health deterioration”.

Refugees often “fled serious trauma” and, as a result, “a sense of stability is crucial for their subsequent recovery”, it warned ministers.

“It will introduce major and prolonged uncertainty into the lives of already vulnerable and marginalised people, and cause a continual associated fear of having their status revoked and being returned to the hands of their persecutors.”

The letter also said that it is “unclear” whether the Home Office has the resources needed to implement the changes “efficiently, including conducting periodic reviews of refugees’ status”.

“For those who have lost so much during their flight from persecution, the anxiety that they will be unable to extend their leave can be terrifying, retraumatising, and can undermine progress towards recovery.”

“By introducing further instability into the lives of refugee patients, a reduced period of protection leave has the potential to increase mental health needs, which will only place further pressure on over-stretched NHS mental health and specialist trauma rehabilitation services,” it said.

A Home Office spokesperson told PoliticsHome: “Genuine refugees will find safety in Britain. Protection will be renewed for all those refugees who still face danger in their own country, but we must reduce incentives that draw people here at such scale, including those without a legitimate need for protection.

“So, once a refugee’s home is safe and they are able to return, they will be expected to do so.

“Refugees will also be able to obtain greater certainty about their future in the UK by switching into the Protection Work and Study route.”