PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Refugees: Children (9 March 2018)

We already have a comprehensive framework for refugees and their families to be safely reunited in the UK. Our refugee family reunion policy allows immediate family members of those granted protection in the UK to reunite with them here. The family provisions in the immigration rules also provide for relatives with protection in the UK to sponsor children when there are serious and compelling circumstances.

Our policy is also clear that where an application fails under the rules, we will consider whether there are exceptional reasons to grant leave outside the rules. In addition, refugees with family members in the UK may be eligible for resettlement under the Mandate and Gateway Schemes.

This policy is designed to provide a safe and legal route for close, dependent family members to join their refugee family in the UK. However, we must not create incentives for families to send children on dangerous journeys, often in the hands of criminals, rather than seek protection in the first safe country they reach.