Portsmouth South MP and Defra minister Stephen Morgan has welcomed the reopening of the UK Resettlement Scheme, saying Labour is restoring “control and compassion” to the immigration system.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced that the scheme will reopen, with around a quarter of referrals expected to be Afghan women and girls and Palestinian refugees fleeing war and persecution.
Refugees will be identified and referred through established processes by the UN Refugee Agency and the International Refugee Assistance Project, working with local authorities. Referrals reopen immediately, with the first arrivals expected before the end of the year.
Morgan: ‘Unlocking the inherent generosity of this country’
“With this announcement, the Government continues to restore control and compassion to the immigration system,” Morgan said. “This renewed control over our immigration system allows us to be compassionate and open capped safe and legal routes for genuine refugees.”
“British people have not given up on their belief that we should be compassionate, live up to our international obligations, and save the lives of those fleeing war and persecution,” he added.
“By capping and controlling this process, Labour is unlocking the inherent generosity of this country.”
Capped routes and community sponsorship
The reopened scheme sits alongside three new sponsorship routes. Charities and universities will be able to apply this month to host refugees through community and student routes, with first arrivals expected in autumn 2027, while a work sponsorship route for employers opens to applications in spring 2027.
The Government expects arrivals across all four routes to number in the hundreds at first, rising into the low thousands as illegal migration falls, with a cap set each year. Those who arrive will be placed on a five-year path to settlement, deliberately more generous than for people who come by small boat.
Ministers point to returns at a ten-year high, with more than 80,000 people with no right to remain removed since July 2024.
Immigration remains one of the most contested issues in British politics. Morgan’s argument is that firm enforcement and refugee protection are not competing goals, and that public confidence in the system is what makes generosity possible.
