Britain’s long and turbulent history of forced expulsions casts a dark shadow over its present approach to migration. Throughout the centuries, the UK has repeatedly enacted policies targeting groups it deemed undesirable, drawing from motives of religious, ethnic, or political “purity.”

Jews: England expelled its entire Jewish population in 1290 by royal decree under King Edward I. This ban persisted for over 350 years, with Jews legally allowed to return only in the mid-seventeenth century.
Roma (Gypsies): The Roma community endured centuries of expulsion orders and harsh legal restrictions, as authorities sought to limit their presence.
French Huguenots: While initially welcomed as Protestant refugees, the Huguenots later faced increased discrimination and expulsion attempts as political climates shifted.
Irish: During the Great Famine and periods of British rule, many Irish families were forcibly displaced from their land and forcibly deported.
Other political and religious minorities: Particularly throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Catholics and political dissenters also found themselves exiled or deported.
Such mass expulsions were commonly rationalized as necessary for internal stability or the defense of social order — reflecting the prevailing beliefs about authority and community at the time.

In 2025, Britain has effectively sealed off most migration avenues through a sweeping set of draconian reforms:

Raised skill and qualification thresholds for work visas, limiting migration mainly to high-skilled sectors.
Increased English language requirements for all applicants.
Permanent residency and citizenship: Migrants must now reside in the UK for at least ten years instead of five to qualify for indefinite leave to remain — except for a small category who make “exceptional contributions” to the economy or society.
Curtailment of low-skilled migration, tighter restrictions on student and dependent visas, higher income requirements, and more demanding integration tests for families.
Cutbacks in legal aid and appeal rights: Legal support for those contesting deportations has diminished and the number of permissible appeals has been sharply limited to expedite removals.
The UK-France Agreement: One In, One Out
The latest diplomatic agreement between Britain and France enables mutual returns of certain asylum seekers: for every migrant returned by the UK to France, one with proven family ties in the UK is resettled from France. This scheme is, so far, strictly limited — with a pilot cap of about 50 persons per week (up to 2,600 a year) — covering only a fraction of total arrivals.

Britain has also:

Ended the policy of housing asylum-seekers in hotels after waves of public protests.
Severely restricted access to social housing for new arrivals, pressing the already strained private rental sector and pricing many out of any accommodation.
Made life even harder for newly recognized refugees, who now face increased risks of becoming homeless after initial government support expires, with backlogs and a competitive housing market aggravating the crisis.

Despite these sweeping measures, many refugees and migrants in Britain now find themselves with virtually no options:

Severe restrictions mean most irregular migrants and new arrivals must choose between immediate compliance with the new rules or face fast-track deportation.
Even for legal residents, the barriers posed by increased fees, longer qualifying periods, and tighter rules have raised the likelihood of financial hardship and administrative insecurity.
The clampdown on direct aid and support services has left many — especially those denied other accommodation — effectively homeless. Public begging is no longer viable in a cashless society, and shelters only accept those officially marked for deportation.
For the majority of new arrivals, the only feasible outcome is to accept residence in “immigration centers” — facilities resembling open detention — with even those options dwindling rapidly as capacity shrinks.

Britain’s latest immigration regime does not merely make life uncomfortable for irregular migrants; it also fundamentally disrupts the lives of many legal residents. Only a narrow segment — those who combine high skills, language proficiency, and sizable economic contributions — now stand a genuine chance of securing long-term status. Everyone else faces mounting difficulties and diminishing prospects of a future in Britain.

In effect, the British government has all but closed the door on migration, reviving the logic and consequences of collective expulsions from its past — only this time, under the formal guise of legal reform and regulatory overhaul. The outcome is likely to have profound and lasting impacts not only on migrants and refugees, but on the social fabric of Britain itself.