UK: Government publishes proposal for major immigration reform ― Work ban forcing some female asylum applicants into sex work ― New evidence of violence and abuse in asylum accommodation ― Increase in number of crossings and more deaths in Channel

• The government has published a proposal to drastically reform the UK’s immigration system.
• A new report has revealed that a number of women who are seeking asylum in the UK have been forced into sex work due to the extreme poverty of their living conditions.
• New data has revealed the alarming levels of violence and abuse faced by people in Home Office asylum accommodation.
• There has been a significant increase in the number of people who made irregular Channel crossings since the start of the year.

The government has published a proposal to drastically reform the UK’s immigration system. The proposal, titled ‘Restoring Control over the Immigration System’, sets out a raft of measures aimed at reducing regular migration, including banning the recruitment of care workers from overseas and tightening access to skilled worker visas. It also foresees a doubling of the amount of time that people need to live in the UK before they can apply for settled status. Announcing the proposal on 12 May, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “Every area of the immigration system, including work, family and study, will be tightened up so we have more control”. He also provoked considerable criticism when he claimed that without immigration reform, the UK risked becoming “an island of strangers”. Commenting on the prime minister’s choice of language, Labour MP, Nadia Whitthome, posted on social media: “The step-up in anti-migrant rhetoric from the government is shameful and dangerous”. The proposal itself has also received criticism from various quarters. The leader of the opposition Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch MP, described the proposed measures as “watered down” versions of her own party’s policies while the Green party condemned them as a “panicked and misguided” effort to “create headlines and win back Reform voters”. The head of ECRE member organisation the Refugee Council, Enver Solomon, said: “We fear the Government’s proposals will create barriers for refugees and undermine their ability to rebuild their lives and contribute to UK life as generations of refugees have done before”.

A new report has revealed that a number of women who are seeking asylum in the UK have been forced into sex work due to the extreme poverty of their living conditions. According to the report by the NGO Women for Refugee Women, the ban on asylum applicants working had contributed to eight percent of the 117 women it interviewed being forced into sex work in order to meet their basic needs and 38% being pushed into or having to stay in unwanted or abusive relationships. At the same time, 98% of the women said that they wanted to work if they were to be given the opportunity. The report’s authors called on the government to lift the work ban: “We urge the Government to include survivors who are seeking asylum within their commitments to tackle violence against women and girls. Lifting the ban on work would be a great first step to this. Right to work, right now!” they said. Commenting on the report, Women for Refugee Women Co-Director Andrea Vukovic said: “It is likely that our research only skims the surface of the level of abuse that women seeking safety are facing”. “What it has made clear is that the asylum system is failing women. It is perpetuating the cycle of violence and abuse that many have fled their homes trying to escape,” she added.

New data has revealed the alarming levels of violence and abuse faced by people in Home Office asylum accommodation. According to the data, which was released by the Home Office (Ministry of the Interior) in late April in response to freedom of information requests, there were 5,960 referrals of assaults on people in Home Office asylum accommodation between January 2023 and August 2024. There were also 380 referrals of hate crimes during the same period. The data is particularly alarming given that the Home Office also reported that 11,547 people in its care were victims of trafficking and 4,686 were victims of torture. Commenting on the figures, the head of the NGO Care4Calais, Steve Smith, said: “These statistics are appalling, but they don’t surprise me. Our local groups raise serious safeguarding concerns with the Home Office and its contractors virtually every day, but it feels like they are routinely ignored”. Elsewhere, in its written evidence to a parliamentary inquiry into issues surrounding asylum accommodation, ECRE member organisation the British Red Cross identified an “inadequate safeguarding culture” with many residents feeling “physically or psychologically unsafe”. These concerns were echoed by the Helen Bamber Foundation: “We have long warned of the risks people face in harmful asylum accommodation, including self-harm and suicide, but little action has been taken,” said the organisation’s director of policy, Kamena Dorling.

There has been a significant increase in the number of people who made irregular Channel crossings since the start of the year. According to Home Office data, more than 10,000 people made the crossing between 1 January and 28 April, a 40% increase on the equivalent period in 2024. Commenting on the data, the co-leader of the Green Party, Carla Denyer MP, said: “If there were safe routes for those seeking asylum to arrive via regular means, they would not be forced into the hands of criminal gangs”. “The government created such safe routes for people fleeing Ukraine. They need to offer the same to others fleeing perilous situations,” she added.

In addition to the increased number of irregular arrivals, there have also been at least 10 deaths in the Channel so far in 2025. Most recently, one person died and seven others were injured when their boat caught fire off the coast of northern France in the early hours of 12 May. Commenting on the incident, Care4Calais posted on social media: “We are once again tragically reminded of the human cost of political games. Whilst our governments choose to line the pockets of private companies – handing out contracts which make bosses billionaires – normal people, people seeking safety, are left to perish”. “Our Government refuses to provide safe routes, yet criminalises those who use the only routes left for them,” it added.

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