Location: United Kingdom
The Mental Health Foundation has responded to the announcement from Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood that people who are successfully granted refugee status will be reviewed every 30 months.
Oliver Chantler, Head of Policy & Public Affairs at the Mental Health Foundation and co-author of The Mental Health of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in the UK, said: “We condemn in the strongest terms the decision to introduce only temporary protection for people granted refugee status in the UK. Subjecting people who have often already lived through horrific trauma to the threat of removal hanging over them every 30 months is a policy that risks profound and lasting harm to mental health.
“The government’s announcement represents a deeply regressive shift in the UK’s asylum system. Stripping refugees of long-term security and leaving families in a cycle of fear and uncertainty will only exacerbate trauma, isolation and distress. These measures disregard the well-established evidence that stability and safety are essential for recovery and integration.
“This move will also be harmful to the UK economy by reducing refugees’ ability to seek stable, long‑term employment and contribute fully to society. Constant insecurity makes it far harder for people to build careers, put down roots, and participate in their local communities - all of which are vital not only for refugees’ wellbeing, but for the health and cohesion of the wider community.
“The UK must not allow polarised political rhetoric to shape reforms that affect people who have fled war, persecution and violence.
“Policies that keep families apart and repeatedly force people to live with the fear of being sent back at any moment will make integration harder, deepen mental ill‑health, and undermine the very principles of protection that refugee status is meant to uphold.
“We urge the government to reconsider this approach and prioritise the dignity, safety and mental wellbeing of all refugees.”
ENDS