Joint Statement on the Impact of the UK Government’s Earned Settlement Proposals on Statelessness in the UK
Asylum Aid is deeply concerned about the UK government’s proposed changes to settlement. Overall, the proposals are completely contrary to the significant body of evidence on integration and social cohesion. If introduced, the proposals risk entrenching insecurity, poverty and exclusion, undermining integration and social cohesion, and placing additional pressure on public services. We are in no doubt that they will cause significant harm to affected migrants, refugees, and stateless people. We are particularly concerned that there appears to have been no Equality Impact Assessment of the proposals, which are intended to have far-reaching impact on those with protected characteristics, which includes statelessness.
For stateless people specifically, the risks are acute. Stateless adults and children rely on timely access to settlement as their only route to citizenship and a durable solution to statelessness. Extending and complicating settlement pathways would prolong statelessness, increase the likelihood of falling into irregularity, heighten barriers to work and integration, and—because stateless people have no other country to turn to for protection—trap individuals and families indefinitely in insecurity.
We urge the UK government to:
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Maintain a clear, accessible and timely route to settlement for refugees and stateless people, without additional hurdles, extensions or conditionality.
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Give full consideration to its international obligations and commitments – including as members of the Global Alliance to End Statelessness – to prevent and reduce statelessness when considering any changes to settlement.
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Carry out, publish, and act upon a full and comprehensive Equality Impact Assessment and a Child Rights Impact Assessment of proposed changes to settlement and ensure that these safeguard and prioritise stateless people and children’s rights and best interests in any proposed changes.