Member

Amendment 9 seeks to remove Clause 1(5)(a)(i), which extends family reunion eligibility to the adoptive parents of refugees under 18. While the intention here is undoubtedly compassionate, it is essential that we maintain alignment with the existing Immigration Rules, which are more restrictive in scope. Expanding eligibility to this extent risks opening pathways that are difficult to manage and could inadvertently encourage unsafe migration practices. One of the reasons why the present arrangements do not permit parents to join child refugees is to disincentivise people from seeking to send children in advance on a dangerous, long and potentially life-threatening journey, and not facilitate a method to encourage migration to the United Kingdom. It is very clear that there is no sense in generating a perverse incentive for people to send children across the seas so that they might be able to then come to the United Kingdom by reason of making such an application.