UK to scrap refugee family reunion route

Britain’s authorities Thursday volition denote plans to extremity a strategy which allowed household members to articulation refugees already successful the country, arsenic it tries to curb migration levels nether unit from the far-right.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer is acceptable to outline plans to scrap the household reunion strategy arsenic good arsenic automatic colony rights for refugees astatine a EU leaders’ acme successful Copenhagen. Applications for household reunions had already been paused past month.

“The cardinal reforms volition beryllium the ground of a fairer strategy where… the way to colony should beryllium longer, and beryllium earned via publication to the country,” the UK authorities said successful a property merchandise precocious Wednesday.

Starmer’s Labour authorities has tried to instrumentality a tougher stance against record-levels of ineligible and irregular migration to caput disconnected the emergence of the anti-immigration, hard-right Reform UK enactment and quell a bitter nationalist debate.

It suspended caller household reunion applications astatine the commencement of September, hoping to disincentivise thousands of migrants crossing the Channel from France to the UK connected tiny boats.

Home Office figures showed determination were astir 21,000 exile household reunion visas issued successful the twelvemonth to June 2025, the immense bulk handed retired to women and children.

Migrants fixed exile presumption volition not beryllium granted automatic resettlement nether the argumentation change, alternatively facing a “new, longer way to colony requiring them to contribute” and without the automatic close to household reunion, the authorities said.

“We’re making cardinal changes to what those granted asylum are afforded successful the UK,” Starmer said successful a statement.

“The UK volition proceed to play its relation successful welcoming genuine refugees fleeing persecution. But… determination volition beryllium nary aureate summons to settling successful the UK, people will person to gain it.”

On Wednesday, Starmer said the authorities would reappraisal however UK courts construe quality rights instrumentality to curb migration levels and deport much migrants.

Over 111,000 radical applied for asylum successful the UK successful the twelvemonth to June 2025, the highest-ever fig of applications since records began successful 2001, Home Office information showed successful August.

And much than 30,000 migrants person made the unsafe Channel crossing from bluish France truthful acold this year, with astatine slightest 27 radical dying attempting the crossing, according to an AFP tally based connected authoritative French data.

Jon Featonby from the Refugee Council foundation said the caller exile rights policies would “damage integration”, marque refugees consciousness unsafe and unit “children to turn up without their parents.

“In reality, restricting household reunion lone pushes much hopeless radical into the arms of smugglers successful an effort to reunite with loved ones.”

Earlier this week, interior curate Shabana Mahmood announced caller requirements for ineligible migrants looking to stay indefinitely including having a job, not claiming benefits and undertaking unpaid assemblage work.

The station UK to scrap exile household reunion route appeared archetypal connected Vanguard News.