Refugee Citizenship Rights

Matt Vickers Excerpts

Tuesday 1st July 2025 Westminster Hall

[Matt Vickers (Stockton West) (Con)]

It is a pleasure, as always, to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Butler. I congratulate the hon. Member for Alloa and Grangemouth (Brian Leishman) on bringing forward his interesting debate, although I am sure it will come as no surprise that my view is very different from his.

Britain is a compassionate and caring country. We have shown support and welcomed those from Ukraine, Afghanistan and Hong Kong as well as others in desperate need. In fact, our compassion and care are without limits. But the reality is that our resources are limited, as we have seen from the pressure on housing, public services, public finances and, yes, our criminal justice system.

The promise of citizenship for those who arrive illegally will only incentivise yet more people to cross by small boat. Uncontrolled migration has real consequences. What would Members proposing such a promise say to the youngster struggling to get on the housing ladder, to the person who has been waiting months for an operation or to the victim of crime who has just seen their attacker released from prison early? What is being discussed today is not those who have been welcomed, but those who have come to this country illegally.

Citizenship is a privilege, and we should not grant it to those who have broken our laws to enter the country. I listened to the proposals of the SNP and the Liberal Democrats in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill Committee, and I have listened to those of the comrades of the Socialist Campaign Group in this debate, and the idea of disregarding that restriction is simply preposterous. How can we possibly say that lawbreaking should not be considered when assessing whether someone is of good character? The problem with the Government is that they fall between two stools: they want to appease the madness within their own party, but they also recognise the public’s desire to secure our borders.

The consequences of the Government’s inability to take strong action have been clearly demonstrated. Before the election, progress was being made on reducing the number of crossings, the number staying in hotels was going down and the proportion of those being removed was going up, but everyone understood that much, much more needed to be done. However, since the election, we have seen the number of arrivals increase by more than 38%. Yes, we are only in July, but already we have reached a record level of small boat arrivals this year. The number staying in hotels is up, and the number of those who have arrived illegally and been removed is at a record low. However it is measured, that is a failure on the part of the Government. It has left the Government’s pledge to “smash the gangs” in tatters, exposing it as the façade it always was.

We can all see that the problem is greater than the gangs. The heinous criminals who organise the crossings are responding to demand. There is a market for people wanting to cross the channel from a safe third country. A truly compassionate response would be to put in place a system that completely deters crossings by removing those who have come here illegally, yet the Government cancelled that plan before it even began. To deport anyone who comes to this country illegally is the fair option, and it would send a clear message. It is the right thing for those who go on the boats in extreme danger, it is the fair thing for the women and children refugees whom we cannot help while we lack control of our borders, and it is the fair thing for the British people who are picking up the tab, yet the Government baulk at such proposals.

Now it appears that the Government’s policy rests on the French Government riding out to the rescue. Relying on the French to save Britain seems about as likely to succeed as relying on them to look out for the interests of our British fishermen—it is technically possible but characteristically implausible. Ultimately, the Government are right to keep the guidance. However, the best approach would be to reverse the failures, implement a proper policy that ensures that those who come here illegally do not remain here and avoid the conversation about citizenship for illegal immigrants altogether.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Seema Malhotra)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Butler, and to respond to the debate.

First, I will respond to some of the points made by the Opposition spokesperson, the hon. Member for Stockton West (Matt Vickers). I feel as though, once again, the Conservative party is in a state of amnesia. The Conservatives completely avoid talking about their own record, yet they know—we all know—that there were 800 people arriving by boats in 2018. The Conservative Government completely lost control of our immigration and borders system and allowed criminal gangs to get embedded across our border. They should apologise for that rather than continuing to pass the buck.

[Matt Vickers]

Will the Minister give way?

[Seema Malhotra]

I will not, actually, because I want to respond to all the points that have been made in the debate. I also remind the hon. Gentleman that, of the 30,000 returns made between the election and the middle of May, almost 8,000 were enforced returns. That is a staggering 23% increase in enforced returns compared with the same period 12 months previously.

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Alloa and Grangemouth (Brian Leishman) on securing this important debate. We have had a number of discussions on this issue in the House, but, notwithstanding that, I know that this is an important debate here and in the other place and I am grateful for the opportunity to make these remarks.

My hon. Friend and other Members spoke about our long and proud history of offering sanctuary to those who are fleeing persecution, conflict and tyranny, as well as our responsibility towards refugees, which we must take very seriously. Our country is an interconnected and outward-facing nation, and I am incredibly proud of that. Our history and geography mean that for generations British people have travelled overseas to live and work, but also that people have come to the UK to work, study, invest, join families or seek sanctuary. British citizens draw on heritage from all over the world, and that has made us the country that we are today.

However, there is another backdrop to the debate, which is that immigration must be controlled and managed. I think we all know that the last Government completely lost control of our borders and we saw net migration reach record highs. It is important, for public confidence and our nation’s security, that we are able to control our borders and who comes to our country.

We have heard about the importance of making sure that we continue our compassion and support for those who are fleeing persecution, war or other risks to their lives. We should be incredibly proud of the support that we provide to refugees and displaced people, whether it is through our UK resettlement scheme, the Afghan resettlement programme, our route for Hong Kong British nationals or our Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme. It is testament to those efforts that the UK is the sixth largest recipient of refugees referred from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the third largest in Europe.

Since 2015, some 674,000 individuals have been offered a route into the UK, with just under 30,000 resettled through resettlement schemes and over 34,000 through our Afghan schemes. The invasion of Ukraine, in particular, is an issue close to the hearts of people up and down our country, and I acknowledge the particular welcome that people from Ukraine have received in Scotland, which has its super sponsor scheme, which I was able to discuss on my visit to Scotland in February.

The Government recognise the contribution that people arriving through such schemes make to our economy and our society. The immigration White Paper sets out our intention to review resettlement and community sponsorship models, allowing businesses, universities and communities to sponsor refugees to live, work and study in the UK. Those schemes deliver better outcomes for both refugees and the communities that welcome them. We are taking this approach because we believe in supporting refugees to integrate into British society fully, and we have been clear that every active working-age person with the right to work in our country should be able to work and contribute to the growth of our economy. It is not just the right thing to do; it is in our national interest.

Refugees and displaced people who have had to leave their home country because of persecution often lack the opportunities to apply for jobs or to work in the UK, even where they have the talent and the training to do so. That is why, in the immigration White Paper, we talk about looking to new safe and legal routes—for example, drawing on the experience of the displaced talent mobility pilot—and we will be exploring reforms to allow a limited pool of UNHCR-recognised refugees and displaced people overseas to apply to come to the UK through skilled worker visas and existing sponsor routes where they have the skills to do so, giving them an opportunity to contribute to the UK and rebuild their lives.

In the few minutes remaining, I want to address some of the questions that have been raised, in particular regarding the changes to strengthen the good character guidance. There are already rules that can prevent those who arrive illegally from gaining citizenship. Indeed, from 10 February 2025, anyone who enters the UK illegally, including via dangerous journeys such as small boat crossings, faces having their citizenship application refused. As I have said, the UK must always play its part in supporting those fleeing persecution, but we are also clear that we must do all we can to prevent people from making dangerous small boat crossings, risking their lives as criminal gangs with no thought for their safety profit.

As has been mentioned, British citizenship is a privilege and not a right. The requirement for an individual to be of good character is a statutory one—one that is considered reasonable and proportionate when assessing whether to grant them British citizenship. The good character policy is compliant with our international obligations, including those under the refugee convention. It is important to note that the guidance on the policy is clear that decision makers have the ability to exercise discretion on a case-by-case basis. That includes the ability to disregard immigration breaches if it is accepted that they were outside the applicant’s control—for example, if the person was a victim of modern slavery or trafficking, or if they entered illegally when they were a child.

It is important to say in response, in particular, to the contribution by my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (Chris Murray) that we will be looking at new thinking and new models around earned settlement and earned citizenship in the consultation that we will launch later this year.

It is important to recognise that these issues concerning those who come to our country via irregular routes are an international problem, and they require an international solution. Any UK Government—it is disappointing that the previous Government did not do this enough—must work with our international partners to make sure that we have solutions and alternatives for those who seek to come to the UK in this way. The Government are determined to restore order to the immigration system so that every part of it—border security, case processing, appeals and returns—operates swiftly and effectively. That is a necessity for our national security and also a moral imperative.