‘More refugees will risk life’ due to asylum crackdown

British Red Cross warns of impact as family reunions halted

- HOLLY BANCROFT HOME AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT

Yvette Cooper’s new asylum crackdown may fuel more dangerous Channel crossings as women and children left languishing in war zones attempt to reunite with their loved ones in Britain, the British Red Cross has warned.

The home secretary on Monday announced a suspension of new refugee family reunion applications, a pathway that allows refugees living legally in the UK to apply to bring their close relatives to safety.

The charity, which has years of experience supporting refugee families to reunite in the UK, warned those relatives will now face a stark choice between waiting in conflict zones without their loved ones or beginning a perilous irregular journey to the UK.

The warning comes exactly 10 years after the world was shocked by pictures of two-year-old Syrian boy Alan Kurdi's lifeless body lying on a Turkish beach after he drowned when his family tried to reach Greece in a smuggler's boat.

Writing in The Independent, Alex Fraser, director of refugee services at the British Red Cross, says the impact of Ms Cooper's announcement “could see children potentially separated from a parent for years, trapped in conflict or disaster zones”.

In the year to June 2025, there were a record 20,817 refugee family reunion visas issued in the UK. Over the past decade, 92 per cent of these were issued to women and children.

He writes: “Families will face harsh choices over those years – either trying to survive during the long wait for safety, or potentially risking the alternative – making a dangerous journey to the UK in order to attempt to rejoin their family.”