UK drops refugee family reunion applications amid anti-immigration protests

Move portion of broader migration crackdown arsenic ruling Labour Party comes nether unit from hard-right Reform UK party.

The United Kingdom’s Labour authorities has said it is suspending a strategy enabling registered refugees to bring household members into the state amid soaring enactment for the acold close successful sentiment polls.

UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced connected Monday that she was “temporarily” suspending caller applications to the exile household reunion way arsenic the authorities draws up caller rules acceptable to beryllium introduced by outpouring adjacent year.

“The strategy has to beryllium controlled and managed based connected just and decently enforced rules, not chaos and exploitation driven by transgression smuggler gangs,” she said.

Under the existent system, an asylum seeker granted indefinite permission to stay successful the state tin bring successful children nether the property of 18, and their spouse if they tin beryllium they person been successful a narration for astatine slightest 2 years.

Cooper told Parliament that expanding numbers of household reunion applications had placed unit connected lodging crossed the country, with galore applying to bring relatives implicit wrong astir a month. One of the planned reforms would mean longer waiting periods earlier applying.

Refugee charities blasted the move. Safe Passage, which supports kid refugees, accused the authorities of “giving successful to far-right pressure”, saying that it would permission children fleeing warfare and persecution successful countries similar Afghanistan, Sudan oregon Iran “trapped successful danger”.

🚨 SHOCKING: The UK Government has temporarily suspended each caller exile household reunion applications.

The consequences volition beryllium devastating for the children we support, who've present been stripped of astir each harmless way to articulation their loved ones. pic.twitter.com/YErszylNft

— Safe Passage International🧡 (@safepassageint) September 1, 2025

Enver Solomon, main enforcement of the Refugee Council, said: “Far from stopping radical taking unsafe journeys to transverse the Channel, these changes volition lone propulsion much hopeless radical into the arms of smugglers successful an effort to reunite with loved ones.”

Far close whipping up anger

Cooper announced the determination arsenic Labour faced a bumpy instrumentality to Parliament aft a summertime interruption that has seen anti-immigration protesters repeatedly targeting hotels lodging asylum seekers successful assorted parts of England – astir precocious successful Epping, northeast of London, connected Sunday.

Facing unit from Nigel Farage’s hard-right Reform UK party, which has whipped up choler implicit radical arriving successful tiny boats implicit the English Channel from France, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said connected Monday that helium volition accelerate plans to bare the asylum hotels.

Accused of moving excessively slowly, the authorities has been anxious to show it is tackling a occupation near by erstwhile Conservative-led administrations by brokering instrumentality deals with different nations and speeding up the processing of asylum claims.

Cooper said that the UK and France volition commencement implementing a “one in, 1 out” aviator strategy aboriginal this month, with the erstwhile sending refugees and asylum seekers to the second successful speech for approved applicants.

“Applications person besides been opened for the reciprocal ineligible route, with the archetypal cases nether information taxable to strict information checks,” she said, adding that “family groups” would beryllium prioritised nether the woody with France.

The authorities volition besides found a caller autarkic assemblage to woody with appeals arsenic tens of thousands of radical successful asylum accommodation are presently awaiting a decision, Cooper said.

She added that the existent mean waiting clip for appeals to beryllium heard is 54 weeks.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies