A LEADING humanitarian organisation has hit back at the Home Secretary’s “cruel, reckless and counterproductive” changes to asylum policy.
On Monday, Yvette Cooper announced that the family reunion policy, which allows individuals to bring their children and partners to the UK once they have been granted refugee status, would be one of several impacted by planned changes to the way asylum cases are handled.
It is thought that Cooper will implement a model similar to one in Denmark, where refugees must prove financial stability before being allowed to bring over family members, as well as setting a minimum time period refugees must be settled in the UK before relatives can be invited.
In response, Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) has branded the decision "cruel, reckless and counterproductive".
Liz Harding, MSF UK's humanitarian representative, said: “By shutting off one of the last remaining safe and authorised routes to the UK, it forces people – particularly women, children and children travelling alone - to risk their lives by undertaking even more dangerous journeys to be reunited with their family in the UK.”
The change follows new visa restrictions which came into place in July, which means overseas workers will generally need degree-level qualifications to apply for skilled worker visas.
On Tuesday, the UK Government also announced it would be cracking down on the number of international students who claim asylum after their visas expire.
Harding continued: “Our MSF teams in France and beyond see the devastating human cost of such harmful and restrictive asylum policies.
“If the government truly wants to ‘help people fleeing from persecution and conflict’, as referenced in yesterday’s statement, then it must reverse this punitive decision and urgently expand safe routes for people seeking safety in the UK."
