Refugee Council reports 16,300 unable to reunite with families in UK
12 reported2 unconfirmed
More than 16,000 refugees have been unable to reunite with families in the UK since the government suspended the refugee family reunion route last September, according to the Refugee Council. The route allowed a person granted refugee status to apply to bring immediate family members such as a spouse and children under 18 to the UK. The suspension was indicated to last until spring of this year, but no confirmation of its resumption has been made. The Refugee Council calculated 16,300 people have been barred from applying in the 10 months since the suspension, using published Home Office data from before the suspension. Nine out of 10 of those granted refugee family reunion are women and children, with the estimate including 9,273 children and 5,835 women. The government operates other safe and legal routes, but arrivals have fallen by more than a third in the last year, and new routes such as community sponsorship have brought only 1,000 individuals to the UK over the last decade.
What’s reported
The government suspended the refugee family reunion route last September.
The route allowed a person granted refugee status to bring immediate family members (spouse and children under 18) to the UK.
The suspension was indicated to last until spring of this year, but no confirmation of resumption has been made.
The Refugee Council calculated 16,300 people have been barred from applying since the suspension, using published Home Office data from before the suspension.
Nine out of 10 of those granted refugee family reunion are women and children; the estimate includes 9,273 children and 5,835 women.
Other safe and legal routes have seen arrivals fall by more than a third in the last year.
Community sponsorship has brought 1,000 individuals to the UK over the last decade, according to Home Office sources.
The government said it expected new community sponsorship, study, and work routes to initially bring refugees in the low hundreds.
Several hundred asylum seekers cross the Channel in small boats on a moderately busy day.
An Iranian refugee in London said her husband is trapped in Iran and that the Home Office processing delay prevented his reunion before the ban.
Imran Hussain, director of external affairs at the Refugee Council, called for urgent restoration of refugee family reunion.
A Home Office spokesperson said the immigration and asylum bill will reform human rights laws and that new safe and legal routes will begin in the autumn, with family reunion no longer automatic under stricter criteria.
Open questions
Whether the refugee family reunion route will be resumed, and if so, when.
The specific criteria for the new stricter family reunion rules.
Key figures
Refugee Council (organization)
Imran Hussain, director of external affairs at the Refugee Council
Home Office (government department)
An unnamed Iranian refugee living in London with her two children
Sources: The Guardian
