Charities warn against making family reunion ‘more difficult’

The number of people offered family reunion visas to the UK rose by almost three quarters in a year, but charities have warned against proposals they say will make it more difficult for loved ones to reunite safely.

Some 20,592 people were offered a Refugee Family Reunion grant to the UK in the year to March, up 72% from 11,971 the previous year.

The Home Office, which published the latest data on Thursday, said the rise might be explained by a “notable increase” in the number of people granted refugee status in late 2023, many of whom were then eligible to bring family members to the UK on Refugee Family Reunion visas.

But plans announced earlier this month to change the rules on family migration have prompted warnings from charities over the potential consequences of making it harder for loved ones to reunite legally.

The Government proposals include tightening rules on the family routes “to ensure people are of the good character we expect”, requirements around English language proficiency for adult family dependants and changing the interpretation of human rights laws to reduce the number of people claiming “exceptional circumstances” in relation to the right to family life in order to remain in the UK.

Safe Passage International claimed people, including children, are continuing to make the dangerous Channel crossing as a “direct result of the lack of safe routes” and accused Labour of “attacking family reunion” with their proposed changes.

Figures published on Thursday show that in the year to March there were 4,667 people arriving by boat across the Channel who were aged 17 and under.

The data came a day after it was confirmed a woman and a child died on an attempted Channel crossing to the UK this week.

Gunes Kalkan, head of campaigns at Safe Passage, said family reunion rules are “already limited” and the latest plans will make refugee family reunion “even harder”.

He said: “This week, people have continued to lose their lives in the Channel, with children being taken to hospital with hypothermia after suffering in freezing water.

“No one should have to risk their lives to ask for protection here. This is a direct result of the lack of safe routes that would save lives and prevent children, women and men falling into the hands of smugglers.

“We know from our work with unaccompanied children and refugee families that many are trying to reach what little family they have left who are in the UK.

“But the family reunion rules are already limited, and last week the Government announced plans to make refugee family reunion even harder. This risks children being at even greater risk of taking dangerous journeys if the only safe route available to them is restricted even further.

“Instead of attacking family reunion, we need the Government to open safe routes, with the introduction of a refugee visa and expansion of the family reunion pathway.”

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, also warned of the risks people might take as they “desperately seek to reunite with their loved ones” if legal routes are not possible.

He said: “The only way to cut Channel crossings is to undermine the business model of the smugglers, which necessarily includes creating more safe and legal routes for people to apply for asylum in Britain.

“We are therefore concerned that the Government intends to make it more difficult for families torn apart by war and persecution to reunite safely and legally.

“Making family reunion more difficult will mean vulnerable men, women, and children risk perilous journeys across the Channel as they desperately seek to reunite with their loved ones.”

The top five nationalities issued Refugee Family Reunion grants in the year to March were Syrian, Iranian, Afghan, Eritrean and Sudanese.

Grants to people from Syria rose by almost half to 4,701 from 3,201.

Those issued to family members of refugees from Iran and Afghanistan both more than doubled – to 3,949 and 2,171 respectively, up from 1,420 and 866.

Other data showed the overall number of people offered safe and legal routes to the UK was down by just over a quarter in a year, driven partly by a fall in those coming on the Ukraine visa schemes.

A total of 69,885 people were offered humanitarian routes in the year to March, down 26% from 94,250 in the previous 12 months.

The number under the Ukraine schemes, set up to allow people to come to the UK for safety following Russia’s invasion in 2022, decreased by more than half from 40,218 in the year to March 2024 to 19,394 for the most recent 12-month period.

There was also a drop of 38% in those coming on Hong Kong visas, from 35,472 in the year ending March 2024 to 22,163 in the 12 months to March.

People offered legal routes to the UK under the Afghan resettlement schemes – launched in the wake of the Taliban takeover in 2021 – rose by 16% from 6,000 to 6,936.