‘Isn’t it just cruel madness to restrict family reunion, which is one of the few safe routes that currently exist’
The Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has come under fire after announcing that new applications for a scheme that allows refugees to bring family members to the UK will be temporarily suspended.
Lib Dem Tim Farron MP and Green MP Siân Berry have criticised the decision, which comes amid a rise in anti-immigration protests outside asylum hotels.
Cooper told MPs that “the system has to be controlled and managed based on fair and properly enforced rules, not chaos and exploitation driven by criminal smuggler gangs”.
Under the current rules, an asylum seeker with indefinite leave to remain can bring in children under 18 and a partner if they can prove they have been in a relationship for two years. Labour says it will introduce a new framework to replace these rules.
In the meantime, refugees will have to follow the same process as other migrants who want to bring family to the UK.
General family reunification rules mean that the applicant must earn at least £29,000 a year and provide suitable accommodation, while their family member may need to demonstrate a basic level of English.
In Parliament yesterday, Farron said: “Is it not just cruel madness to restrict family reunion, which is one of the few safe routes that currently exist, particularly when we know that 93% of the refugee family reunion visas granted this year were for women and children?
“Will this not increase the number of people putting themselves at the mercy of evil traffickers, and the number of tragedies in the channel?”.
Safe Passage, a charity that supports child refugees, accused the government of “giving into far-right pressure”, and warned it would leave children fleeing war and persecution in countries like Afghanistan, Sudan or Iran “trapped in danger”.
On Newsnight last night, Berry said: “Labour opposed this when the Conservatives put this forward in 2022, on exactly the grounds that I’m talking about now that it will increase danger to people.”
The Brighton and Hove MP added that it will potentially increase the demand for family members, including women and children to be exploited by the small boat gangs.
“I think it’s a terrible, terrible thing they’ve announced today. It’s a bad idea and it could have really counterproductive consequences,” Berry said.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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