Safe Passage v the Home Office

As Safe Passage, we launched a judicial review into the Home Office’s unlawful policy on refugee family reunion last year.   

After eight months of delays due to Covid-19, we finally have dates for the hearing: 25th-26th May.

We are taking the Home Office to court because their 2020 policy on refugee family reunion is unlawful.

Winning this case will offer hundreds of children another chance to reach their families in the UK.   

This policy leads to the Home Office frequently making the wrong decision, putting vulnerable children’s lives at risk. Children impacted by this policy have spent a freezing winter stranded in Europe during a global pandemic, instead of safe with their families.  

Because of this harmful policy, when the Home Office is considering family reunion cases:   

• They are not adhering to the UK’s human rights obligations by not doing their part to establish whether family members are related;  

• They refuse a child’s application when they fail to properly consider it in time, to avoid responsibility; and 

• They are failing in their duty to consider the best interests of the child.  

Although this route was closed to new applications in December, many children still have applications under consideration and hundreds more had their applications rejected last year under this unfair policy.  

For many, challenging this unlawful policy will be their last chance of reaching sanctuary. 

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