The long road to reunion: why the UK family reunion process puts people in danger

Lydia helps reunite families torn apart by war and conflict as part of the Red Cross REPAIR project. She explains why the UK's complex family reunion process is keeping people in danger.

Last updated 25 April 2023

"We currently have an application for 13 people: one adult and 12 children.

"They include six informally adopted nieces and nephews who were orphaned. They're living in a tent on the outskirts of Kabul. They don't have passports, only ID cards," Lydia says.

As a caseworker on the Red Cross and EU funded Reunification Pathways for Integration (REPAIR) project, it’s her job to help reunite families by war and violence once they reach Europe.

Currently, UK refugee family reunion is a long, expensive and complex process. Without legal routes to the UK, families are forced to take unimaginable risks to reach safety.

In some cases, children and adults are forced to navigate war zones, flee sexual violence, hide for fear of imprisonment or abuse, and are even forced to pay smugglers, just to reach the place where their paperwork can be processed, by officials acting for the Home Office.  

REPAIR aims to make family reunion pathways easier to access, helping families to reunite in Europe before, during and after they arrive in the UK. 

Lydia is mainly involved in the pre-visa stage of the process. She spends a lot of her time applying for exceptional case funding (ECF) – a type of legal aid which was introduced in the UK after cuts were made to legal aid funding for refugee family reunion in 2012.

In order to qualify as an exceptional case, people need to show that their human rights, and those of their family members, are at risk in their home country. This can take a very long time and involve a lot of information gathering and paperwork.

While the ECF funding is welcome, Lydia believes that the scheme is somewhat limited in scope and function. Family reunion application costs quickly add up, from gathering supporting statements and translations, to travel costs to the nearest visa centre.

“ECF amounts to £234 for the solicitor who takes on the case for all family members, but bear in mind a private solicitor will usually charge at least £500 per family member.”

Families may need to spend thousands of pounds on an application – something refugees just don’t have. As time marches on, families remain separated across countries, often in dangerous circumstances.

It’s why the British Red Cross has long called for the refugee family reunion to be brought back into scope for legal aid. Better still, we call for safe and legal routes to safety.

Grassroots legal support

In the southwest, the British Red Cross has been working in partnership with Migrant Legal Project, a Bristol law firm that delivers publicly-funded and non-profit legal advice throughout Wales and the southwest of England.

“In Bristol, there aren't really any solicitors who take exceptional case funding because it doesn't actually make any sense for them financially,” Lydia explains “So we have a partnership with Migrant Legal Project.

Recently, Lydia and her team have submitted seven successful ECF applications, which means seven families are one step closer to reuniting here in the UK.

Once the application is successful Lydia’s clients will meet with the Migrant Legal Project to discuss the intricacies of their case.

“Six out of the seven successful legal aid applicants have had at least their first appointment with the Migrant Legal Project,” Lydia says.

“It's essentially about talking through the case and just making sure that they understand the facts around it, so they can make an application to the Home Office on their behalf.

“There are people within the family reunion team at the British Red Cross who make the family reunion applications as well, but we don't have someone in Bristol.

The Red Cross also can't represent anyone at appeal, so it is helpful to work with an external partner.”

"All he thinks about is his family"

Lydia and her team are incredibly busy. She’s currently trying to fund TB testing for the 13 family members from Kabul. 

Lydia explains cases from Afghanistan are particularly complex because there is no biometric processing centre in country. This can be a huge obstacle in family reunion cases.

“My client’s mind is constantly preoccupied with his case and being reunited with his family,” Lydia says. “You can just tell that it’s all he thinks about, all the time. It makes it really difficult when there are so many obstacles in the way.

“The nieces and nephews were his brother's children. His brother passed away. His dad and his brother were killed and he was sent video footage. It’s really, really horrible.”

Lydia explains that this part of this application will have to be made outside the Immigration rules because of her client’s informally adopted nieces and nephews.

That along with the evidential barriers for the children and spouse makes the case more complex. A case like this is likely to be more time consuming, more costly and more likely to be refused.

These are some of the many challenges faced by families trying to reach application centres.

Help us protect families

The Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement calls for a more holistic, protection-oriented approach that is safe, inclusive and  supports families at every step of the way. 

You can join us in standing up for refugee families torn apart by conflict and disasters by signing our pledge to say that Every Refugee Matters.

You can also read our report, The Long Road to Reunion, where we detail the challenges faced by many families trying to reach application centres.