Refugees: Children

(asked on 3rd November 2017) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to reduce dangerous journeys for unaccompanied child refugees with family in the UK.


Answered by
Brandon Lewis Portrait
Brandon Lewis
This question was answered on 13th November 2017

The Government strongly supports the principle of family unity, and we have a comprehensive framework in place for refugees and their families to be safely reunited in the UK without the need for dangerous journeys.

Our family reunion policy allows children to join their refugee parents, and there are also specific provisions in the Immigration Rules that allow extended family members lawfully resident in the UK to sponsor unaccompanied children where there are serious and compelling circumstances.

We have reunited over 24,000 partners and children with their families under our family reunion policy in the last five years. Further, those children recognised by UNHCR as refugees can join close family members in the UK through our Mandate resettlement scheme.

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