Home Office reaches ‘new depths of cruelty’ with plans to saddle refugees with £10K debt
RAF Linton-On-Ouse in North Yorkshire, which the Home Office plans to use to detain thousands of asylum seekers in its quest to shut more hotels, June 26, 2026FORCING people seeking refuge into £10,000 of debt is an “abandonment of principles that should never be negotiable,” campaigners warned today as the government published new plans for its immigration system.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced the proposal, which would order asylum-seekers to pay the sum to cover living costs while they await a decision on their status.
If they do not pay, Ms Mahmood’s plans would automatically deny refugees settled status in Britain.
Critics immediately slammed the means-tested scheme, saying it would punish people fleeing war, torture and famine.
And it would only raise a “relatively small” amount for the Home Office’s goals of cutting the amount it spends each year on asylum accommodation and support by £4 billion.
The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) condemned the move as “yet another shameless attempt by Labour to inflate the coffers of private companies like Serco, Mears and Clearsprings with multibillion-pound contracts to run asylum accommodation unfit for human habitation.”
JCWI spokesperson Seema Syeda told the Star: “Forcing people seeking safety into debt to pay for it is new depths of cruelty.
“There’s a simple solution: give asylum-seekers the right to rent and the right to work, so they can live in our communities in accommodation they choose — as all human beings deserve to be treated.
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