Thursday, October 2, 2025 - Britain’s Labour government is set to announce major plans to curb immigration by ending a key asylum benefit that allowed refugees to bring their family members to the UK.
The move, intended to quell a national debate and counter
pressure from the far-right, will be outlined by Prime Minister Keir Starmer at
an EU leaders’ summit in Copenhagen on Thursday, October 2.
The new policy will scrap the refugee family reunion scheme
and end automatic settlement rights for those granted asylum. Applications for
family reunions were already paused last month.
“The fundamental reforms will be the basis of a fairer system
where… the route to settlement should be longer, and be earned via contribution
to the country,” the UK government said in a statement late Wednesday.
Under the policy change, migrants granted refugee status will
no longer receive automatic resettlement. Instead, they will face a “new,
longer route to settlement requiring them to contribute” and will lose the
automatic right to family reunion, the government confirmed.
“We’re making fundamental changes to what those granted
asylum are afforded in the UK,” Starmer said in a statement. “The UK will
continue to play its role in welcoming genuine refugees fleeing persecution.
But… there will be no golden ticket to settling in the UK, people will have to
earn it.”
Starmer’s government has sought to take a tougher stance
against record levels of both legal and irregular immigration to head off the
rise of the anti-immigration, hard-right Reform UK party. The suspension of new
family reunion applications began in September, primarily to deter thousands of
migrants from crossing the Channel from France in small boats.
Home Office figures show that almost 21,000 refugee family
reunion visas were issued in the year to June 2025, with the vast majority
going to women and children. This comes as the UK faces a surge in asylum
applications, with over 111,000 people applying in the year to June 2025—the
highest number since records began in 2001. Additionally, more than 30,000
migrants have made the dangerous Channel crossing so far this year.
The policy drew immediate criticism. Jon Featonby from the
Refugee Council charity warned that restricting family reunion would “damage
integration,” make refugees feel unsafe, and force “children to grow up without
their parents.” He argued, “In reality, restricting family reunion only pushes
more desperate people into the arms of smugglers in an effort to reunite with
loved ones.”
The announcement follows an earlier move this week when
Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood announced new requirements for legal migrants
seeking indefinite leave to remain, including having a job, not claiming
benefits, and undertaking volunteer community work. Starmer also previously
said the government would review how UK courts interpret human rights law to
curb immigration levels and deport more migrants.
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