Resource

This editorial is a collaboration between Helen Bamber Foundation, Freedom from Torture, leaders with lived-experience, lawyers and academics from King's College London, Northumbria University and Brunel University London. It examines the mental health implications of the legislation and policy changes introduced by the UK Labour government in 2025. These legislative changes have continued to prioritise prevention, deterrence and punishment over human rights protection. They risk further restricting rights, deepening precarity and harming the mental health of people seeking asylum and those who have been granted refugee status in the UK.   

The legislative changes introduced for asylum seekers include a one-in-one-out pilot scheme, accommodation in large-scale container sites, and removal of the duty to provide financial support and accommodation. Each of these changes risk harming the mental health of asylum seekers, for example, through isolation from support networks, poor living conditions, re-traumatisation for those with prior detention experiences, and reduced access to essential services.  

The government has also proposed changes for people who have already been granted refugee status. The new legislation would require refugees to renew their status every 2.5 years, rather than every 5 years. Under a new earned settlement policy, refugees would also be expected to ‘contribute to the economy and play by the rules’ before qualifying for settled status. These proposed changes would create periods of prolonged uncertainty and undermine the safety required for effective treatment and recovery for those living with mental illness.  

Together, these policy changes are highly likely to entrench distress and uncertainty, raise serious human rights concerns, and increase the risk of significant mental health difficulties. These policy measures represent preventable harms and demand urgent attention. 

Read the full article here.