Response to the Home Office’s Proposed Asylum and Returns Policy
20 January 2026
Our response to the UK Government’s asylum and returns proposals explains why deterrence by design is not an asylum policy, and sets out what a workable, lawful system would look like instead.
In January 2026 we submitted our response to the UK Government’s proposed asylum and returns policy.
Our conclusion is simple. These proposals are not an asylum policy. They continue deterrence by design, keeping people in permanent insecurity even after they are recognised as needing protection.
Temporary status, restricted family life, delayed work, and the constant threat of removal are not protection. They are pressure by design, at high human and public cost.
Our response is based on over 30 years of frontline work and sets out what would work instead: final decisions, safe and legal routes, family reunion, the right to work, and resettlement from day one.