Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of expanding the family reunion scheme for Syrian refugees.

Syrian Refugees in the UK have the same family reunion rights as all those granted refugee leave or humanitarian protection in the UK. Our Refugee Family Reunion rules are consistent for all nationalities.

Our family reunion policy allows immediate pre-flight family members of those granted protection here to reunite with Refugees in the UK. The Immigration Rules also provide for relatives with protection in the UK to sponsor children in serious and compelling circumstances. In addition, there is provision in the policy to grant visas outside the Rules in exceptional circumstances, which caters for extended family members who otherwise do not qualify under the Rules, for example, those fleeing conflict zones such as Syria who are unable to live safely anywhere else. All those granted family reunion visas have the right to work, study and to access benefits.

We are listening carefully to concerns raised on this issue and are currently reviewing our approach to family reunion as part of the Government’s wider asylum and resettlement strategy. We continue to follow the passage of two Private Members’ Bills on refugee family reunion closely and will continue our productive discussions in this area.