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Behaviour guidelines for life in UK published for asylum seekers

Jennifer McKiernanPolitical reporter
News imageHome Office The image is of a cropped poster with a pink background and the Home Office logo. In the top right hand corner, a label reads: Asylum Consequences of Behaviour. In large font, the poster reads "it is illegal to harass people" and in smaller print below, text reads: "In the UK, everyone has the right to feel safe in public. You must never: Make sexual comments to strangers, even as a compliment." Home Office
The Home Office has published new posters warning asylum seekers about UK law

New behavioural guidance for asylum seekers has been published by the Home Office.

A nine-page booklet covering issues including respect in public, sex and consent, and gender equality, has gone online, with guidance on how laws and customs in the UK may be different from the home country of asylum seekers.

The Conservatives' shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: "Instead of trying to train these mainly young, male illegal immigrants behave in a civilised way towards women, they should be deported."

And Reform UK's home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf labelled the document "a disgrace", adding its publication showed the government "know that they are a menace".

According to the latest Home Office figures, a total of 93,525 people applied for asylum in the UK from April 2025 to March 2026, which was down by 12% on the same period in the previous year.

The booklet sets out how asylum seekers must understand UK law, because the consequences of breaking the law mean "you could get in trouble with the police, lose your asylum support, or it could affect your asylum claim."

A section on gender explains that women in the UK have equal rights to men, and do not need the permission from a husband, father, brother or any other man to do things like work, study, travel, or make decisions.

Another section on sex and consent sets out how both people must agree to sex or sexual contact of any kind, and consent cannot be given if someone is asleep, drunk, or unable to respond.

And a section headed Respect in Public outlines how it is not acceptable to whistle or make kissing noises at people on the street, nor "make sexual comments to someone, even if you think it is a compliment".

Philp called for deportations of asylum seekers, rather than attempting to change existing behaviour.

"Immigrants are coming from places and societies where attitudes towards women can be completely incompatible with Western society," he said.

"Too many communities are failing to properly integrate and become part of our culture, leaving frankly backwards standards to prevail."

In a two minute video posted on social media, Yusuf responded, saying: "I genuinely cannot believe what I have just read.

"The government has just published a handy guide for illegal migrants on how not to be a rapist, not to be a paedophile, how not to beat women and how to leave babies alone.

"That again may be really hard to believe but that is exactly what they have just done."

A Labour spokesperson declined to comment. The Home Office, Liberal Democrats and the Green Party were contacted for comment.

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