Washington, D.C. –
This week, the UK government announced a suspension of its refugee family reunion scheme, with no new applications being considered after 3 p.m. on Thursday, 4th September. The government intends to introduce new, tougher rules on family reunion that could become law next year as well as plans for “detailed controlled arrangements for unaccompanied children”. In the meantime, the UK government’s immigration rules for family visa applications provide no meaningful alternative for refugee families who cannot meet the stringent financial requirements.
The scheme has, until now, been one of the few safe routes available for refugees fleeing war and persecution to be reunited with their loved ones in the UK. According to government figures from January to June 2025, more than half of the refugee family reunion visas (56%) went to children, and two-thirds of all refugee family reunion visas issued went to people from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran and Sudan.
Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)’s expert partner organisations in the UK have responded to the suspension, with the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU) calling it “an unprecedented attack on the rights of refugees” and Just Right Scotland (JRS) urging the government to think again.
JRS said, “Protecting family reunion is a humanitarian commitment. Closing safe routes won’t solve system pressures; it will push more people toward dangerous journeys and take the UK further away from compassion and its legal and moral obligations. Surely, it is not who we are as a country.”
GMIAU said, “We know this news is devastating for many of the people we work with, who rightly hoped that after the long asylum process, they would have the right to apply to be with their family and bring them to safety. Keeping people apart from their families is cruel to individuals, and shutting down one of the only safe routes will lead to more people taking dangerous journeys as their only option to reach the UK.”
KIND reaffirms that family unity is a fundamental human right, yet family separation is the backdrop to every unaccompanied child’s story. This is why KIND is committed to working internationally to protect and promote children’s right to be with their families.
As part of this commitment, we joined the Advisory Group of the Global Family Reunification Network (FRUN), the first global platform devoted to family reunification for refugees and other beneficiaries of international protection. KIND also co-leads the FRUN Working Group on Unaccompanied and Separated Children and Adolescents. As part of the 2023 Global Refugee Forum, the FRUN mobilized global support for a multistakeholder pledge, which KIND has joined, aiming to reunite 1 million families by 2030.
As a global leader in helping reunite separated families, KIND echoes the concerns raised by JRS and GMIAU, as well as others, including the Refugee Council, that until new plans are in place, one of the few safe routes for children to seek protection in the UK has now been cut off, leaving many trapped in dangerous situations vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.
Denying a child access to a safe route only adds to their hardships. It won’t stop them from seeking safety and escaping from the pain of conflict and persecution. They cannot wait until new plans are put in place. As the Committee on the Rights of the Child acknowledges, cutting off safe and regular channels contributes to more children taking life-threatening journeys across land and sea.
Whether children migrate alone or are separated from their families along their journeys, family separation is an enduring trauma with life-long impacts on a child’s health and development. Unaccompanied children are vulnerable to traffickers and others who seek to exploit a child’s vulnerability as they try to reach the safety and protection so many of us take for granted.
We acknowledge that the UK government is planning specific arrangements for unaccompanied children in the future. However, preserving the right to family life and family unity is a fundamental precondition to the protection of other child rights and central to safeguarding children’s best interests now. This is why KIND supports its partners’ calls for the UK government to reverse its decision and urgently reinstate family reunion rights for all refugees
Notes
Read the full statement from our UK partner JRS here.
Read the full statement from our UK partner GMIAU here.
Read KIND’s fact sheet on Supporting Family Unity for Unaccompanied and Separated Children here.
Read more about KIND’s work protecting unaccompanied and separated refugee and migrant children, including in Europe and the UK here.
KIND in Europe is based in Belgium and operates across 9 countries: Belgium, Czechia, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and the UK. We work with 13 expert NGOs and 51 law firms and corporate pro bono partners to advance protection for children on the move. Since 2016, our work with civil society and legal professionals has built deep expertise in protecting unaccompanied and separated children. KIND achieves safety and stability and secures rights for unaccompanied and separated children in Europe through high-quality, free legal and psychosocial assistance, capacity building, and advocacy.
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Media Contact: Megan McKenna, mmckenna@supportkind.org, 202-631-9990