Andy Burnham has a chance to fix Labour's mistakes. Here's what he needs to do first.

At Refugee and Migrant Justice, we recognise that Andy Burnham takes on the leadership of the UK at a time of real challenge - and real opportunity. We're calling on the new Prime Minister to seize this moment: to break with his predecessor’s mistakes on asylum and immigration and forge a genuinely new path in how the UK treats people seeking safety, and migrants who have built their lives here. We're not alone in this. Organisations across the migrant justice sector, the racial justice sector, faith groups, trade unions and wider civil society are calling on Andy to do better.

For too long, public debate has been shaped by hostile politics, divisive rhetoric and performative cruelty. Refugees and migrants have been unfairly blamed for wider social and economic problems that have nothing to do with them. It's time to draw a clear line under that approach. Here are three places Burnham should start.

1. Scrap the Immigration and Asylum Bill

This Bill will not fix the asylum system. It will cause chaos in the Home Office for years to come, and it should alarm anyone who cares about the rule of law, not just refugees.

Part 1 of the Bill erodes a fundamental British principle: the separation of powers. Immigration appeals will now be decided within a Home Office-run body, rather than by the independent judiciary that has always held the department to account. The student will effectively be marking their own homework.

It's also deeply worrying who will be making these decisions. Cases that were heard by trained, independent, expert judges will instead be decided by people with no legal expertise. Coppers, Planning Inspectors, Butchers, Bakers and Candlestick Makers with no legal expertise will decide life or death claims for protection.

On top of this, the Bill imposes a new de facto tax on refugees, by making them “repay” the government for supporting them whilst their claim was processed. This after making them wait, often for years, before they can work and support themselves.

There is predictably a further erosion of Article 8, the right to family and private life. Article 8 is a protection that applies to all of us. Watering it down for one group sets a precedent for undermining it for everyone when politically convenient. In this regard, Labour have clearly been taking lessons from the Conservatives.

None of this fixes the actual problem. If Andy Burnham is serious about building a fair and functioning asylum system, the answer isn't more laws that create long-term chaos for a short-term headline. It's making fair, accurate first-time decisions, so fewer people are stuck for years in appeals; upholding the rule of law and respecting the separation of powers; and enabling people granted protection to heal from their trauma and get on with their lives.

2. Scrap the “Earned Settlement Model”

Extending the qualifying period for settlement doesn't stop people coming, instead it makes it nearly impossible for people here to ever put down roots. And this isn't only a refugee issue. It affects migrants who are already established in the UK, working, paying tax and raising British children. Pushing settlement further out of reach means more people spending years longer on temporary visas, facing repeated, costly renewal fees, restricted access to services, and the constant feeling that you never quite belong. For many migrant families stuck in low-income jobs, that's not a technical delay, it's a barrier to escaping poverty.

Like anyone, all people want is the chance to settle, stand on their own two feet, and do the best for their family. A system designed to prevent settlement doesn't serve refugees or migrants, and it doesn't serve Britain either. Insecurity doesn't build cohesion; it blocks it, and it drives hardship for families who are already doing everything right.

The Earned Settlement Model must be scrapped.

3. Reinstate family reunion

Keir Starmer’s government tried and failed to put refugees off taking risky journeys by scrapping family reunion. This approach didn't work then, and it won’t work now. What it has done is tear families apart and prevent refugees here from establishing themselves.

Restricting family reunion only pushes more desperate people into the arms of smugglers in an effort to reunite with loved ones. As a safe route that allowed recognised refugees fleeing war and persecution to be reunited with their immediate family, family reunion overwhelmingly supported women and children, who made up 90% of visas granted through this route in the last year.

According to the Refugee Council, since family reunion was scrapped, more than 16,000 refugees have been unable to reunite with family in the UK, leaving them either stuck in conflict zones or resorting to using people-smugglers to reach safety. This policy forces  more people into uncertain limbo and incentivises dangerous journeys. It risks lives. Family reunion should be reinstated immediately.

The country is ready for this.

The truth is, most people in this country want an immigration system that is fair. They know migrants and refugees aren't headlines or talking points – they are our neighbours, colleagues and friends, who want the same things everyone wants: secure housing, decent work, and the chance to build a good life.

People are tired of division. They want leaders who focus on what actually affects their lives and who bring communities together, rather than pulling them apart.

The UK's story is an immigration story, and it's one we should be proud of. Burnham has the chance, right at the start of his premiership, to reject the politics of division and choose common ground instead.

At Refugee and Migrant Justice, we stand ready to work with the new Prime Minister. We can fix this, together.

Read our latest report, which shares the voices of parents of British children and reveals how the Earned Settlement model will push families into poverty and destitution.