The British government will require adult refugees who have the right to work and earn above a yet-to-be-defined threshold to repay approximately £10,000 towards the cost of their accommodation and subsistence before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced the measure as part of the forthcoming Immigration and Asylum Bill, stating that “asylum support is a right, but it is also a responsibility” and that those who can afford to contribute should “repay the generosity of the British people.” The Home Office estimates that asylum accommodation and support cost taxpayers around £4 billion last year, and officials describe the repayment scheme—modelled on the student loans system—as a means of reducing that burden.

Under the proposed rules, repayments will be means-tested and limited to adults above an income threshold, with safeguards to prevent destitution. The Home Secretary will have the power to adjust the flat-rate charge and repayment thresholds. Those whose asylum claims are rejected will also be liable to repay the sum if their income exceeds the government’s threshold. The policy will not be applied retrospectively, and children will be exempt. The Home Office has not yet determined the income level at which monthly instalments would begin, but officials say the mechanism will be similar to that used for recovering student loans.

Refugee advocacy groups in the United Kingdom have condemned the plan. The Refugee Council described it as “unfair, impractical” and an “extra tax on refugees,” arguing that it would make it harder for families to rebuild their lives. Imran Hussain, the council’s director of external affairs, noted that asylum seekers are banned from working while their claims are assessed, meaning those who receive support are already at risk of destitution. Migration researchers at the University of Oxford have questioned the scheme’s revenue potential. Dr Madeleine Sumption of the Migration Observatory pointed to data showing that five years after being granted refugee status, only an estimated 13 percent of individuals earned at least £20,000 per year, suggesting that “a relatively small share of people granted asylum would earn enough to make contributions.”

The policy shift comes as the Labour government faces sustained political pressure from the right-wing Reform UK party, which has campaigned on a platform of sharply reducing immigration. In Westminster, shadow home secretary Chris Philp noted that the Conservative Party had proposed an identical scheme in an amendment to an immigration bill last year, which Labour had blocked. The Immigration and Asylum Bill, which also includes measures to expand the use of former military barracks for housing and to increase removals of those with no legal right to remain, is expected to be debated in Parliament in the coming days. Some Labour MPs have signalled opposition to the bill’s stricter provisions, setting up a potential internal party conflict over the direction of asylum policy.