UK suspension of refugee family reunion scheme to be challenged in high court | Immigration and asylum
The Home Office’s controversial decision to suspend the right of refugees to bring their children and partners to the UK will face a legal challenge at the high court, the Guardian reveals.
Safe Passage International, a charity working with unaccompanied children and refugees, has been given permission to launch a judicial review into a decision to halt refugees’ family reunification after claiming the suspension was unlawful.
Mr Justice Fordham agreed that the restraining order should be open to legal challenge after the court heard that “the decision breached the Home Office’s duty to take into account the need to protect and promote the welfare of children”.
The Home Office was also accused of failing to properly consider the consequences of its decision and of possible breach of the Equality Act by failing to consider the impact on women, children and disabled refugees.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs was contacted for opinion.
It comes as Labor tries to fight off a challenge from Nigel Farage’s UK Reform Party, while Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood prepares to introduce further policies imposing further restrictions on asylum seekers hoping to settle in the UK.
In September, then-home secretary Yvette Cooper announced the immediate suspension of the refugee family reunification route, which allows children to be reunited with their parents and partners. The decision sparked a backlash from some Labor figures, including Kindertransport’s Alf Dubs.
Until then, an adult granted refugee status could sponsor their spouse or partner and dependent children under 18 to join them. Children do not have the right to family reunification.
Between October 2024 and September 2025, the Ministry of Internal Affairs issued 20,876 refugee family reunification visas. The Refugee Council said that more than half of this aid was given to children and 37 percent to women.
At the time of the suspension, the Home Office said it would last until “spring 2026”, when it planned to introduce new restrictions that could include new income thresholds and English language tests.
Jo Cobley, chief executive of Safe Passage International, said: “As we deal with the psychological effects of surviving war and human rights abuses, we work with families suffering from depression, anxiety and even suicidal ideation. The impact of families separated in the chaos of flight cannot be underestimated.”
“The government is abandoning the UK’s duties to protect refugee children. We are fighting against this removal because we fear more children and families will turn to smugglers, closing another safe route and risking their lives to reach their loved ones.”
Safe Passage’s claim that the postponement was unlawful was presented to the court on November 28 and permission was granted on February 19. The case is expected to be heard later this year.
Importantly, the now suspended refugee family reunification route had no application fee and less stringent requirements.
The remaining family members route, which is for family members of British citizens and settled immigrants, costs £5,043 for an adult applicant and £4,266 for a child. Under these rules, sponsors of family members must earn at least £29,000 a year or meet this threshold through savings alone, unless “exceptional circumstances” are shown. Safe Passage says it is almost impossible for refugees in the UK to meet these financial requirements, given that asylum seekers are prohibited from working.
Dubs, who came to Britain aged six in 1939, fleeing the persecution of Jews in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, told the Guardian Mahmood “pulled up the drawbridge as soon as he got in” because he did not fully consider the plight of refugee children stranded abroad.
Mahmood has advocated for sweeping changes to the UK’s asylum system, telling MPs the current situation is “out of control and unfair”. Speaking in the Commons in November, she said: “If we fail to deal with this crisis, we will draw more people down a path that starts with anger and ends in hatred.”
According to the plans, refugee status will become temporary, guaranteed housing support for asylum seekers will end and new limited “safe and legal routes” to the UK will be created.
