Member

This amendment is particularly urgent, given, as already noted, the Government’s recently announced steps to curtail safe routes following the suspension of the refugee family reunion route. My understanding, following the noble Lord, is that it is a permanent change, not a temporary pause. Refugees sponsoring family members, including children, must now meet the same stringent criteria as other migrants, such as the £29,000 income threshold. To underline the point, these changes close one of the few remaining safe and legal routes for children to reunite with their family and risk breaching the UK’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the European Convention on Human Rights and the 1951 refugee convention.