Select committee: Justice and Home Affairs Committee
Recommendation 19
1st Report - All families matter: An inquiry into family migration
Published 28 Feb 2023
Paragraph 95
Justice and Home Affairs Committee Family Migration All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We endorse the conclusions and recommendations of the 2016 report of the Lords European Union Committee, Children in Crisis. “We found no evidence to support the Government’s argument that the prospect of family reunification could encourage families to send children into Europe unaccompanied in order to act as an ‘anchor’ for other family members. If this were so, we would expect to see evidence of this happening in Member States that participate in the Family Reunification Directive. Instead, the evidence shows that some children are reluctant to seek family reunification, for fear that it may place family members in danger.” “We recommend that the UK Government reconsider its restrictive position on family reunification. Legal aid should be available to unaccompanied migrant children for the purposes of proceedings for family reunification.”
From: Justice and Home Affairs Committee, 1st Report - All families matter: An inquiry into family migration, paragraph 95, 28 February 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 9 June 2023 (deadline 28 April 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response sets out that it does not think full harmonisation of family entry and stay conditions is "the right approach", and it largely defends existing rules on adult dependent relatives, the minimum income requirement, child sponsorship and visitor appeals.
- On bespoke routes, it says that "where possible" it uses existing pathways, but that some events are "so critical" that bespoke routes are needed, such as the Afghan and Ukraine schemes.
- On child refugees sponsoring relatives, it says doing so "would risk creating incentives" for more children to make hazardous journeys.
- On fees, it says they are kept under review but there are "no current plans" to reduce fees on the route to settlement or for Indefinite Leave to Remain.
- On the Immigration Rules, it states it has "accepted all of the Law Commission's recommendations in whole or in part" and aims "to consolidate the simplified Rules in early 2024".