If the Social Democratic Danish government deems their home country safe, asylum seekers can be repatriated. The path to citizenship has also been lengthened and made more difficult, with stricter rules for family reunification.
Among other measures, the 2016 legislation allows Danish authorities to seize asylum seekers’ valuables to offset support costs.
The UK currently grants asylum to those who can prove they are unsafe at home, with refugee status given to those deemed to be at risk of persecution. The status lasts for five years, after which they can apply for permanent settlement if they meet certain criteria.
Denmark has been known for its tough immigration policies for over a decade, which the Home Office says have reduced asylum claims to a 40-year low and resulted in the removal of 95 percent of rejected applicants.
2025 record
Starmer, elected last summer, is under pressure to stop migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats from France, something that also troubled his Conservative predecessors.
More than 39,000 people, many fleeing conflict, have arrived this year following such dangerous journeys — more than for the whole of 2024 but lower than the record set in 2022.
The crossings are helping fuel the popularity of Reform, led by firebrand Nigel Farage, which has led Labour by double-digit margins in opinion polls for most of this year.
Asylum claims in Britain are at a record high, with some 111,000 applications made in the year to June 2025, according to official figures.
More than 100 British charities wrote to Mahmood, urging her to “end the scapegoating of migrants and performative policies that only cause harm”, saying such steps are fuelling racism and violence.
Polls suggest immigration has overtaken the economy as voters’ top concern. Some 109,343 people claimed asylum in the UK in the year ending March 2025, a 17 percent rise on the previous year and 6 percent above the 2002 peak of 103,081.