See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy DAVID BARRETT, HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR Published: 23:37 BST, 26 June 2026 | Updated: 00:27 BST, 27 June 2026
Organisations and community groups will be able to sponsor thousands of asylum seekers to come to Britain under a new scheme unveiled by Shabana Mahmood.The Home Secretary is a pressing ahead with plans – first floated in November – to create new 'safe and legal routes' for refugees.In what will be seen as a sop to the Left of the Labour party, Ms Mahmood is prioritising a scheme which will see community organisations sign up to house and support refugees, and find them jobs.It will be based on a Canadian model and the UK's Homes for Ukraine scheme, which has brought 270,000 Ukrainians here since the start of the war in 2022.The new programme is expected to be open to asylum seekers from conflict zones around the world, with the United Nations refugee agency helping to determine who should come to Britain.Separately, universities will be able to directly sponsor refugees to come here as students from autumn next year.Ms Mahmood also revealed changes to human rights laws will be included in a new immigration Bill, to be published next week. Shabana Mahmood has said a new community sponsorship scheme for refugees will be launched in conjunction with the UN's refugee agency
