Mahmood's safe and legal routes to help only a 'few hundred' refugees

Shabana Mahmood is facing demands for compassion and clarity after it emerged that only a "few hundred" asylum seekers would initially be permitted to come to the UK under three new refugee schemes.

- Rajeev Syal Home affairs editor

The home secretary had justified new hardline policies, such as the deportation of families and the confiscation of assets from claimants, by saying she would open the "safe and legal" routes for "genuine" applicants.

But on Monday night she conceded that the new schemes will be "modest" at first, and has so far declined to say when and how the numbers of people admitted to the UK will increase over time.

The calls for compassion come as Mahmood faces anger from Labour MPs over the government's plans, which will forcibly remove families from the UK if they refuse cash incentives to return to their own country.

Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said that refugees do not have the luxury of waiting months or years for "safe and legal" routes to be expanded.

"A route that helps only a few hundred people, with no clear plan for when it will increase, won't stop dangerous journeys or create the orderly system the government wants to see and would in effect be meaningless," he said.

"When safe routes are properly resourced and designed to meet real levels of need, they can save lives and give families a genuine alternative to perilous journeys."