The Red Cross is paying for hundreds of families to come to the UK to be reunited with migrants granted asylum, despite growing concerns over housing shortages. The Telegraph has more.
The charity locates, advises and funds the travel costs of up to 1,000 family members a year to come from abroad to join people who have been granted refugee status.
They are a portion of the record 20,000 family visas granted to children and wives or partners of refugees to join them in Britain.
Home Office figures show the overall number of successful applications for family visas has increased five-fold in three years, from 4,310 in the year to March 2023 to 20,592 in the year to this March.
Migrants granted asylum or refugee status in the UK can sponsor family members to come to the UK, with charities like the Red Cross providing advice and funds to help them.
Immigration rules mean that, unlike with other visas, family members coming to the UK are not required to demonstrate that they have the necessary accommodation or income to be able to live in the UK without claiming universal credit or housing benefits. There is also no requirement that they have to speak English.
Council officials have expressed concern that the growing numbers of asylum seekers and their families securing refugee status in the UK are placing unsustainable burdens on local housing.
Following the Telegraph’s investigation, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, signalled a shake-up in family reunions, which is likely to include new conditions and restrictions on refugees seeking to bring their families to the UK.
It is understood ministers are considering following other European states that bar migrants granted asylum from applying to reunite with their families until they have spent a number of years in the country. At present, they can apply as soon as they are granted asylum.
Ms Cooper told the Telegraph that the family reunion system Labour inherited from the Tories was “broken”.
She said the entire family immigration system – including migrants’ use of human rights laws – was being reviewed, with changes expected to be announced later this year.
“That also includes looking at increasing responsibilities for people to support their families, increasing English language requirements, and examining changes in this area that other countries have brought in,” she said.
Worth reading in full.
••••
The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)
••••
Comment Policy: As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, or personal/abusive attacks on other users. This also applies to trolling, the use of more than one alias, or just intentional mischief. Enforcement of this policy is at the discretion of this websites administrators. Repeat offenders may be blocked or permanently banned without prior warning.
••••
Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.
••••
Disclaimer: The information and opinions shared are for informational purposes only including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are not intended as medical advice or instruction. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Liberty Beacon Project.
Leave a Reply