Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps his Department is taking to support the reuniting of refugee families.

Our family reunion policy allows immediate pre-flight family members of those granted protection here to reunite with them. There is provision in the current policy to grant visas outside the Rules in exceptional circumstances, which caters for family members who otherwise do not qualify under the Rules. The Government’s approach has provided a safe and legal route for more than 25,000 partners and children of those granted protection here in the last five years.

We are listening carefully to calls to expand the scope of the refugee family reunion rules and are reviewing our approach 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 with non-governmental organisations in this area.

Family reunion is only part of the Governments wider package of support for refugees. In addition to those who join family members in the UK under family reunion provisions, we have, in the year ending March 2018, resettled a total of 5,760 people under our resettlement schemes.