To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to expand the definition of refugee family for the purposes of family reunions, beyond its present meaning of partner or dependent child, so that more members of family units may enter the UK and become self-supporting.
Answered on
20 March 2017
The Government does not intend to extend the provisions of the family reunion Rules. The policy meets our international obligations and we do not believe that widening the criteria to include extended family members, or allowing children to sponsor parents, is appropriate. We must do all we can to encourage those who need protection to seek asylum in the first safe country they reach and to support those countries hosting large numbers of refugees.
We believe that allowing children to sponsor family members would create perverse incentives for them to be encouraged, or even forced, to leave their family, risk hazardous journeys and seek to enter the UK illegally in order to sponsor relatives, rather than claim asylum in the first safe country they reach. This plays into the hands of criminal gangs who exploit vulnerable people and goes against our safe guarding responsibilities.
Legal aid is paid for by tax payers and resources are not limitless. It is therefore provided to those who most need it, including those who claim asylum. For those eligible to sponsor and apply for family reunion, we have already improved our guidance to caseworkers to ensure that applicants better understand the process and what is required of them so the provision of legal aid is not necessary.