Refugee Family Reunion
Refugee Family Reunion
When forced to flee their home country because of war, violence or persecution, refugee families often face further trauma as they are torn apart and separated. Refugees, including women and children, may go for many years without seeing their loved ones. Some refugee families may never be reunited. Family unity is a human right, and states have a legal responsibility to put in place frameworks that enable family reunion. Not only do well-designed refugee family reunion systems offer dignified and legal routes for refugees to reach safety, but they provide a managed and controlled way for states to receive them.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, helps to safeguard refugees’ right to family unity. We work with states to help address barriers and challenges around refugee family reunion, and advocate for flexible and fast procedures to bring families back together safely, with structures that consider the specific circumstances of refugees. In December 2024, UNHCR issued updated Guidelines on international legal standards relating to family reunification for refugees and other beneficiaries of international protection.
Families belong together and the United Kingdom (UK) has a rich and proud history of reuniting refugee families in a regular, safe, dignified and managed way. Noting the temporary suspension of the existing refugee family reunion pathway to the UK, pending further review, UNHCR remains committed to working with the UK, as with other governments, to ensure a system that works for states and refugee families that takes into account the following considerations:
1. Family unity is a right
Refugee family reunion procedures are based on the legal right to family unity. Unlike all other third-country solutions such as resettlement, education and labour pathways, states have a legal responsibility to put in place frameworks that enable family reunion - refugees are unable to access their right to family life in their country of origin, given their inability to return home. The right to family unity was explicitly affirmed by the Conference in which the 1951 Refugee Convention – the cornerstone of international protection that clarifies who a refugee is, their rights and the importance of international solidarity – was signed. The UK was an original signatory to the Refugee Convention and indeed, one of the lead drafters. The right to family life is also reflected in other international and regional human rights instruments, including the European Convention on Human Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
2. Family reunion can save lives
Refugee family reunion enables refugees to travel to the UK in a safe and regular way. It can dissuade people from risking their lives, including through dangerous and chaotic small boat crossings, in search of safety and loved ones. It can also avert a situation in which criminal gangs profit from and exploit refugee families’ natural desire to be together. In the UK, family reunion has primarily benefited women and children, some of the most vulnerable refugees who are often at particularly high risk of exploitation. It is not nationality specific, meaning people fleeing the horrors of some 130-armed conflicts globally, as well as human rights abuses, can reach safety and be reunited. In the last year alone, over 20,000 refugees and others impacted by conflict and instability in their own countries, including Afghanistan, Syria and Sudan, have been reunited with close relatives who are refugees in the UK, taking the first steps towards rebuilding their lives together in safety and dignity.
3. Family reunion means refugees can reach safety in a way that works for states
In addition to providing refugees a safe and regular route to reach family and safety, family reunion provides states with a managed and controlled pathway to welcome refugees. In the absence of an accessible, functioning family reunion pathway, it can be anticipated that more refugees would feel compelled to embark on dangerous journeys, placing their lives in the hands of smugglers, pushing them towards organized criminal gangs, and generating further pressure at external borders. This would undermine efforts under way to improve border security and work based on regional and international cooperation to ensure a more managed approach to refugee flows. UNHCR recognizes the pressures on local authorities and stands ready to work with the Government on measures to help address reception challenges, including in relation to planning for arrivals.
4. Family reunion helps refugees rebuild their lives and integrate into their new communities
Once in their new homes, being with loved ones helps refugees to begin to heal faster from the trauma of conflict. Being part of a family unit makes it easier and quicker for refugees to integrate in their new communities as family members can provide a sense of safety and belonging, including through connections to the community via schools, workplaces, and other structures. This can be especially true for vulnerable groups including women and children. Prolonged separation from loved ones has been shown to affect refugees’ ability to access key services, learn English and form social connections. Refugee family reunion supports economic self-reliance and benefits social cohesion.
5. Refugee families face unique challenges and barriers to family reunion
Refugees in the UK and their family members in their country of origin or first asylum can face specific practical, legal, and financial barriers that must be overcome if they are to be reunited. Their circumstances are often very different to those that apply to other family-based visa routes and can hinder their ability to meet visa sponsorship requirements. For example, people granted refugee status in the UK will generally have been unable to work while their asylum claim was being considered. This means they are less likely than UK nationals or settled foreign nationals to be able to meet financial thresholds. For refugee family members in countries of origin or first asylum, they are likely to face disproportionate challenges in meeting visa eligibility requirements including language skills. Women and girls account for the majority of family reunion visas in the UK and in some countries, they will face insurmountable barriers to learning. Those with language skills may be physically unable to access a test centre without undertaking a dangerous, irregular crossing to another country. It is crucial to have family reunion pathways for refugees that consider and are adapted to the specific circumstances arising from forced displacement.
