The Guardian reports that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's 'earned settlement' plan would make refugees who arrive by irregular routes, such as small boats, wait up to 30 years to settle in the UK, with a 10-year penalty and some reduction through work or study, while care workers get a five-year carve-out. The UNHCR says the extended qualifying period is likely to be detrimental to refugees' security and belonging, and Kamena Dorling of the Helen Bamber Foundation calls the policy inhumane and harmful to integration.