To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to Answer of 26 April 2023 to Question 181331 on Refugees: Families, if she will make it her policy to include evidence of risk of (a) violence against women and girls in Iran and (b) mass arrests at peaceful protests as a compelling reason to prioritise a family reunion application.
Answered on
11 May 2023
It is not appropriate to set out through policy a prescriptive list of circumstances which may lead to an application being prioritised. Instead, where the out-of-country operational team receives a request for prioritisation from an applicant or their representative, a manager will undertake a holistic consideration of the applicant’s individual circumstances to determine whether it should be prioritised.
Those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach. That is the fastest route to safety.