US EditionBritain suspends refugees' family reunion applications to toughen rules
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper plans to overhaul family reunion rules and asylum appeals to combat people smuggling and reduce pressure on local housing authorities.
- On Monday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced the government is temporarily suspending new applications under the refugee family reunion route while reforms are set.
- Amid rising local pressure, officials cite refugees applying for family reunification within about a month, straining housing, while the government argues people‑smuggling gangs exploit reunion promises to promote Channel small boats crossings, pressuring local authorities.
- Cooper will outline tougher English language and financial requirements, create a new independent appeals body, and cite National Crime Agency data showing a 40% rise in disruptions, plus plans for 1,000 more detention beds at Campsfield and Haslar Immigration Removal Centres.
- On Friday, the Court of Appeal overturned an injunction blocking the Home Office from using the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, and the Epping Forest District Council will meet on Monday to consider a Supreme Court appeal.
- Later this year the government will set out a new family migration system, aims to implement some changes by spring, and plans to end asylum hotels by the end of this Parliament.
36 Articles
36 Articles
UK Hardens Immigration Policies, Suspends Family Reunification
The UK on Sept. 1 announced the temporary suspension of refugee family reunification applications, citing pressure on local authorities and criminal smuggling gangs using the system as a pull factor for illegal immigration. Secretary of State for the Home Department Yvette Cooper told the House of Commons, the lower house of the UK Parliament, that the temporary measure will address immediate pressures while the Labour government works on a new …
Trust me, splitting up refugee families is not the answer to the migrant crisis
As the Home Office seeks to revert back to the 28-day move-on period for asylum-seekers and pauses reunions, Alex Fraser of the British Red Cross explains how the government needs to better support refugees – starting with a focus on family
Interior Minister Yvette Cooper said she wanted to fight against smugglers who, in her view, used family reunification to "encourage more people to board."
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