Overview
- Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is preparing to remove failed asylum seekers and some foreign offenders before they can appeal, with challenges to be pursued from abroad.
- Officials have identified 25 countries deemed safe for return—including India, Nigeria, Brazil, Albania and Ukraine—subject to a test that there is no real risk of serious irreversible harm.
- The plan relies on Section 94B of the 2002 Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act and would cut off taxpayer-funded accommodation once claims are certified as unfounded.
- Government figures cite about 104,400 outstanding appeals and a 50% rise to 8,476 removals without appeal last year, still only around 10.6% of roughly 80,000 rejected claims.
- Angela Rayner and other Labour MPs oppose the measures and the Refugee Council warns of safety risks, while officials acknowledge operational hurdles such as absconding if people are bailed.