The United Kingdom’s Labour government has said it is suspending a scheme enabling registered refugees to bring family members into the country amid soaring support for the far right in opinion polls.
UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced on Monday that she was “temporarily” suspending new applications to the refugee family reunion route as the government draws up new rules set to be introduced by spring next year.
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“The system has to be controlled and managed based on fair and properly enforced rules, not chaos and exploitation driven by criminal smuggler gangs,” she said.
Under the current system, an asylum seeker granted indefinite leave to remain in the country can bring in children under the age of 18, and their partner if they can prove they have been in a relationship for at least two years.
Cooper told Parliament that increasing numbers of family reunion applications had placed pressure on housing across the country, with many applying to bring relatives over within about a month. One of the planned reforms would mean longer waiting periods before applying.
Refugee charities blasted the move. Safe Passage, which supports child refugees, accused the government of “giving in to far-right pressure”, saying that it would leave children fleeing war and persecution in countries like Afghanistan, Sudan or Iran “trapped in danger”.
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Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “Far from stopping people taking dangerous journeys to cross the Channel, these changes will only push more desperate people into the arms of smugglers in an effort to reunite with loved ones.”
Cooper announced the move as Labour faced a bumpy return to Parliament after a summer break that has seen anti-immigration protesters repeatedly targeting hotels housing asylum seekers in various parts of England – most recently in Epping, northeast of London, on Sunday.
Facing pressure from Nigel Farage’s hard-right Reform UK party, which has whipped up anger over people arriving in small boats over the English Channel from France, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday that he will accelerate plans to empty the asylum hotels.
Accused of moving too slowly, the government has been eager to demonstrate it is tackling a problem left by previous Conservative-led administrations by brokering return deals with other nations and speeding up the processing of asylum claims.
Cooper said that the UK and France will start implementing a “one in, one out” pilot scheme later this month, with the former sending refugees and asylum seekers to the latter in exchange for approved applicants.
“Applications have also been opened for the reciprocal legal route, with the first cases under consideration subject to strict security checks,” she said, adding that “family groups” would be prioritised under the deal with France.
The government will also establish a new independent body to deal with appeals as tens of thousands of people in asylum accommodation are currently awaiting a decision, Cooper said.
She added that the current average waiting time for appeals to be heard is 54 weeks.
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