The United Kingdom’s Labour government has said it is suspending a scheme enabling registered refugees to bring family members into the country amid soaring support for the far right in opinion polls.
UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced on Monday that she was “temporarily” suspending new applications to the refugee family reunion route as the government draws up new rules set to be introduced by spring next year.
The changes mean that refugees will be covered by the same family migration rules and conditions as everyone else while a new, tougher framework for family reunions is drawn up.
Refugees will now have to apply through the standard family scheme, which applies to British citizens. This requires them to demonstrate a minimum joint income of £29,000 per year before their foreign partner can join them in the UK
“The system has to be controlled and managed based on fair and properly enforced rules, not chaos and exploitation driven by criminal smuggler gangs,” she said.
Immigration currently tops Britons’ concerns, ahead of the economy and the National Health Service, an Ipsos survey published last month found.
Over 111,000 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest-ever number of applications since records began in 2001, Home Office data showed earlier this month.
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More than 50,000 migrants have made the dangerous Channel crossing from northern France since the Labour Party’s Keir Starmer became prime minister in July 2024.
The arrivals, which also occurred under the previous Conservative government, is causing discontent that is being tapped into by Reform, led by hard-right firebrand Nigel Farage.
Giving a statement in the Commons on Monday, the first day back after a summer recess that was marred by growing public anger over migration, the home secretary said that a new independent body will be created to speed up asylum appeals, as well as announcing that the first returns of those who come to the UK on small boats will begin later this month under its deal with France.
More comprehensive reforms to family reunion will be outlined in an asylum statement later this year and implemented by spring, she said, arguing that people-smuggling gangs were using family reunion rules to promote illegal crossings to the UK.
Under the current system, an asylum seeker granted indefinite leave to remain in the country can bring in children under the age of 18, and their partner if they can prove they have been in a relationship for at least two years.
Cooper told Parliament that increasing numbers of family reunion applications had placed pressure on housing across the country, with many applying to bring relatives over within about a month. One of the planned reforms would mean longer waiting periods before applying.
Refugee charities blasted the move. Safe Passage, which supports child refugees, accused the government of “giving in to far-right pressure”, saying that it would leave children fleeing war and persecution in countries like Afghanistan, Sudan or Iran “trapped in danger”.
Steve Smith, CEO of Care4Calais, said: “We are forever hearing cries that refugees seeking protection should do so through official channels, but here we have the government restricting the last available safe route for women and children.
“Shutting off the hope of family reunification will only force more women and children to take dangerous journeys to seek sanctuary, including risking their lives by crossing the Channel.”
Meanwhile, Enver Solomon, CEO of Refugee Council, said: “Until now, family reunion has been one of the only safe and legal routes available that allows refugees fleeing war and persecution to be reunited with their partner and children.