UK plans yearly refugee cap but has not provided its number
The UK Resettlement Scheme is to reopen after stopping new applications in December 2024. The Home Office expects hundreds of arrivals under the scheme and three new sponsorship routes, and separately forecasts numbers rising to the low thousands as illegal migration falls; the scope of that forecast is unclear. A yearly cap is planned, but its number has not been provided.
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BBC UK reports that the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) will reopen immediately after it stopped taking new applicants in December 2024. The Home Office expects hundreds of people to arrive under the scheme and three new sponsorship routes. The sponsorship routes, involving communities, universities and companies hosting refugees, are due to begin from next year.
The Home Office also expects arrivals to increase to the “low thousands” as levels of illegal migration fall. BBC UK does not specify whether this forecast refers to the UKRS alone or to the UKRS and the new sponsorship routes together. A cap is to be set for each year, but the number has not been provided; the forecast and the cap therefore describe different things.
Jon Featonby, chief policy analyst at the Refugee Council, welcomed the proposals but said safe routes need thousands of places, not hundreds. The Home Office expects around 25% of arrivals to be Afghan women and girls and Palestinians.
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