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Children and adults are forced to navigate war zones, risk sexual violence or imprisonment, and pay smugglers to get to a location where officials acting for the Home Office can process documentation of the UK visa, said a charity.
When a person has successfully applied for asylum and has been granted refugee status in the UK, they have the legal right to reunite with immediate relatives through a family reunion visa.
Relatives abroad must access the UK embassy or visa application center to complete an application submission and return later to find out the result.
In a report, the British Red Cross concludes that rather than the process providing a safe route to the meeting, it puts too many people in danger.
Naomi Phillips, Director of Policy and Advocacy for the British Red Cross, said: “Our report shows that in far too many cases, children and adults are forced to navigate war zones, flee sexual violence, hide for fear of imprisonment. or abused, and they are even forced to pay the smugglers. This is just to get to the place where officials acting for the Home Office can process your documentation.
“It does not have to be this way. There are some simple changes that could be made to make the family reunion process more secure, such as asking people to travel to the place where their application is processed after a positive decision has been made, based on documentation submitted online. By taking action, the Home Office will reduce or prevent people from having to make multiple and dangerous trips.
“The Interior Minister recently highlighted the urgent need for compassionate asylum reform, including the need to introduce safer routes. We agree, but our report, The Long Road to Reunion, also shows that the existing ‘safe’ and legal route of refugee family reunification needs attention as it unnecessarily puts lives at risk. “
In the year ending June 2020, the government issued 6,320 refugee family reunion visas and has issued more than 29,000 in the past five years.
After speaking with 100 families, the charity estimated that nearly half of them said the process, which involved supplying documents and personal information such as fingerprints, exposed them to risk.
In 2019, nearly two-thirds of refugee family reunion visas in the UK were granted to family members from Eritrea, Sudan, Iran and Syria, all countries where reaching Visa Application Centers (Vacs) generally represented a serious danger.
Investigators found that applicants had to make multiple trips to Vacs to present photographs, fingerprints and passports and, if successful, collect visas.
The nearest Vac was often hundreds of miles away, and some countries, such as Syria and Eritrea, did not have any such centers, according to the report. Many applicants also had to make an additional trip to a clinic approved by the Interior Ministry for the detection of tuberculosis, which could also require long trips and border crossings, he added.
Applicants who made unauthorized border crossings to meet visa requirements had the highest price to pay financially and in terms of threats to personal safety, according to the report.
Investigators also reported that applicants who needed to cross borders were dependent on smugglers. One in five had to use smugglers during part of their trip. Most of the trips were made at night, which increased their vulnerability and could involve several days of hiking on deserted routes through difficult terrain.
One woman told the charity how she traveled for days on a camel, having to keep her children awake at night so they wouldn’t fall during the trip.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “We require biometric data to allow us to confirm the identity of people applying to come to the UK and assess whether they pose a risk of harm, but we have extended the entry authorization from 30 days to 90 days for give people a wider window of opportunity to travel. “
