London, Nov 17 (PTI) British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK’s current asylum regime is a “significant pull factor” to illegal immigration, which will be tackled by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s reforms tabled in Parliament on Monday.

In a detailed policy document released ahead of Mahmood’s House of Commons statement, Starmer makes the case for wide-ranging changes, including an extended period of 20 years for refugees to gain settlement status and countries facing visa penalties for not taking back their nationals who enter Britain through illegal routes.

“The UK’s current asylum regime is a significant pull factor to that (people smuggling) trade... which then also creates a strong and perverse incentive for migrants who have arrived legally to switch into the asylum system

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