Over 720 faith leaders ask government to protect refugee family reunion

Removing family reunion for refugees risks pushing people into smugglers hands, say religious leaders 

 
Amidst major asylum policy overhaul, 720 bishops, church ministers, rabbis and an imam from UK communities have written to the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to raise concerns for refugee families. 
 
The government has suspended a vital route for partner reunion and for children trying to reunite with parents, and under new settlement proposals would effectively end the automatic right to family reunion for newly recognised refugees. It has replaced it with a far more restrictive system that narrows the definition of “family” and puts reunion out of reach for many.
 
The letter, coordinated by the Joint Public Issues Team of the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches, urges the Home Secretary to reconsider these plans, saying they will 'deepen suffering and place Britain at odds with values long central to our national identity and to every major faith tradition in this land'. 
 
Alongside concerns that 'making family reunion inaccessible and/or contingent on a fee-paying route will neither reduce journeys nor create a more settled country', the letter also highlights that restricting this safe route will 'push desperate people toward the very smuggling networks we all wish to dismantle'. 
 
The religious leaders, representing a wide range of faith groups, who gathered outside Parliament on Wednesday 25 March, are urging the Home Secretary, who has previously called for an expansion to family reunion, to 'reconsider these proposals, to protect the right to family reunion, and to demonstrate the moral leadership that this moment demands.'
 
Rt Rev'd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, Bishop of Chelmsford, one of the signatories, said, 'Refugees make up a very small proportion of immigrants to the UK and they are wrongly blamed for longstanding pressures on housing and public services, often by those who seek to sow division. Historically the UK has shown great compassion towards people who have had no choice but to leave horrific circumstances of war and persecution.
 
'Family Reunion is not only compassionate but helps better integration which can ease pressure on public services. I hope the Government will demonstrate moral leadership and take the opportunity to reconsider these proposals.' 
 
The Revd Lynn Green, General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, said, 'It is unimaginable what refugee parents must endure when they are separated from their children, or the anguish of husbands and wives kept apart. Refugee family reunion recognises that those granted protection should have the chance to rebuild their lives with their immediate families – the very people who depend on them, and with whom they share powerful bonds of love and responsibility — bonds that draw them together and cannot be put on hold.

'I have signed this letter to urge the Government to reconsider proposals that would place further barriers in the way of families rebuilding their lives together.'
 
Rt Revd and Rt Hon Lord Rowan Williams of Oystermouth, former Archbishop of Canterbury and signatory of the letter, said, 'There ought to be no debate about the scandal of leaving unaccompanied children to fend for themselves in situations of great risk.

'Not for the first time, we are being challenged as to whether we as a society really believe in the right of children to be nurtured and protected, at a time when casualties among children are seemingly taken so much for granted in war across the globe.' 
  
Jo Cobley, chief executive at Safe Passage International, a charity that helps refugee families reunite in safety and is campaigning against the family reunion proposals, said, 'Abandoning children and families, who have already been torn apart by the chaos of war and persecution, to a life of separation is chilling. Every day, we see the devastating impact separation has on children and the people who care for them most, and we also see the precious moments when mums and dads can finally hug their children again after years without each other. 
 
'We urge the government to listen to these faith leaders from across the UK, who are simply calling for compassion for refugee families, by urging the government to protect family reunion. Without family reunion as a safe alternative, we fear more people will be pushed into dangerous journeys to reach loved ones.' 


Related:
When families are kept apart: a call to protect refugee family reunion - Why Baptist ministers are being urged to sign a letter to the Home Secretary to protect refugee family reunion. By Steve Tinning