The UK government has announced it will temporarily suspend applications from registered refugees to bring family members into the country in order to give the government time to toughen the rules.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper said their asylum system needed “substantial reforms” as she laid out the plans to reduce record numbers of migrants arriving in small boats.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, she said refugee family reunion rules were designed many years ago, when refugees would often wait until they had a job before they applied to bring their family.
Now, refugees often apply to bring their families to the UK without waiting until they have a job or home, she said.
Ms Cooper also said the government would create an independent body to deal with asylum appeals, increase detention and returns capacityand change the way certain parts of the European Convention on Human Rights is interpreted.
“The overall system remains outdated, sclerotic and unfair,” Ms Cooper said, referring to immigration appeals. “We will shortly set out more radical reforms to modernise the asylum system and to boost our border security.”
Under the current system, an asylum seeker granted indefinite leave to remain can bring their partner if they can prove they have been in a relationship for at least two years, and children under the age of 18.
Just over 29,000 people have come to Britain unofficially on small boats so far this year, up 38% on the comparable period in 2024.
The Labour government is under pressure to reduce the number of asylum seekers reaching Britain from France in small boats, after hotels housing migrants became a focal point for weeks of sometimes violent demonstrations.
The asylum announcement came after Mr Starmer revealed a raft of changes to his Downing Street team.
He appointed Minouche Shafik, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England, as his chief economic adviser, part of efforts to bolster his team before what is set to be a difficult end to the year.
Ms Shafik’s appointment and a move to bring Darren Jones, finance minister Rachel Reeves’s deputy, to his Downing Street office indicate that Mr Starmer believes he needs better economic advice before a budget later this year that is expected to include further tax rises.
He also replaced his principal private secretary, who runs his team’s office, and appointed a new director of communications. – Agencies
