UK says it will open new sponsorship routes for eligible refugees

Source: AP

Britain’s government said it will open safe, legal routes for eligible refugees, while also changing human rights laws to make it easier to deport people who are in the country illegally.

The new routes will allow community groups, universities and employers to sponsor refugees to come to the U.K. Authorities said the plan was inspired by a similar “community sponsorship” program in Canada that has settled some 400,000 people in the country since 1979.

“I will open new legal routes for genuine refugees, while closing loopholes that have been too often abused,” Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said Friday.

At the same time, Mahmood said, a new immigration law will seek to prevent “abuse” of human rights laws and crack down on “vexatious claims.” It will tighten the definition of family so that it is restricted to immediate family members only.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/britain-immigration-refugee-routes-71c403ff344e5d23109636e0a5770ab4