Caroline has today tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament demanding that the Government reinstate legal aid for refugees seeking family reunion. [1]
She is also calling for the Government to reform and widen the definition of family under the reunion rules so that it includes children over 18, siblings, grandparents and adopted children.
Legal Aid funding has not been available to refugees applying for family reunification since the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act came into effect in April 2013. Under this Act, family reunion is treated as a straightforward matter relating to immigration, rather than asylum, and therefore those pursuing it no longer qualify for free legal assistance. [2] [3]
Caroline said:
“Refugees seeking family reunion often face extreme levels of stress and anxiety, but the current harsh rules are leaving them increasingly isolated. The vast majority of those seeking reunion from abroad are women and children – many of whom are living in desperate and dangerous circumstances.
“The Government must urgently rethink the family reunion rules, to find effective ways for family members to be reunited without having to make dangerous journeys and risk being put in harm’s way.
"At the very least Ministers should reinstate legal aid for family reunion cases – treating applications as part of the asylum process, rather than straightforward immigration cases. Families who have been split up by wars and fleeing persecution deserve to be able to exercise their right to reunification.”
Head of refugee support at the British Red Cross, Alex Fraser, said:
“Family reunion should be playing a far bigger role in the UK’s response to the refugee crisis. Families abroad are often left living in warzones, refugee camps or other highly dangerous circumstances and have no alternative but to make life-threatening journeys like those we’ve seen in the Mediterranean to reach safety.
“Streamlining and expanding the family reunion system would provide people fleeing violence and persecution a safe and legal route to refugee status in the UK.”
ENDS
[1] EDM text is below. Also available here: http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2015-16/561
That this House notes that refugees have a legal right, under UK and international law, to be reunited with their families; further notes that refugees seeking reunion are often faced with extreme levels of stress and anxiety, which are only worsened by separation and isolation from their loved ones who frequently remain in desperate and dangerous circumstances overseas;
recognises that family reunification provides a safe and legal route of entry to the UK at a time of deepening concern that the Government is failing to respond appropriately to the refugee crisis by not taking in a fair and proportionate share of refugees both from within the EU and outside;
notes that reports from the British Red Cross find that family reunion cases are not straightforward, that only those refugees with specialist legal support are successful in their applications, and the costs are unaffordable for the vast majority of refugees; is further concerned that reunification cases are inaccurately and unfairly treated as straightforward immigration cases; calls for the Government to reform and widen the definition of family under the reunion rules so that it includes children over 18, siblings, grandparents and adopted children, and allows for adults abroad to be reunited with children in the UK; urges the Government to find innovative and flexible ways for family members to apply for reunion overseas so that that they are not put in harm’s way; further calls for the Government to reinstate legal aid for family reunion cases as a matter of urgency.
[3] Red Cross briefing on family reunion:http://www.redcross.org.uk/~/media/BritishRedCross/Documents/About%20us/Not%20so%20straightforward%20refugee%20family%20reunion%20report%202015.pdf
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