Amidst a major asylum policy overhaul, 720 bishops, rabbis, church ministers, Quakers 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 automatic family reunion for newly recognised refugees, replacing it with a far more restrictive system that narrows the definition of “family” and puts reunion out of reach for many.
The religious leaders, representing a wide range of faith groups, who gathered outside Parliament recently, 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”.
This letter was coordinated by the Joint Public Issues Team of the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches.
