By Mary Atkinson

With its latest decision on refugee family reunion, the Government has yet again chosen performative cruelty over commonsense policymaking. Earlier in September, then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced that refugee family reunions would be completely suspended, likely until spring 2026, while the Home Office rewrites the rules.

Under the previous rules, people recognised as refugees could apply to bring their spouse and children with them. The rules were narrow, with loved ones like siblings and parents barred from applying within the normal system. But they meant that thousands of people could reunite with their loved ones in safety and start rebuilding their lives in their new communities.

Now, citing spurious arguments about refugee family reunion acting as a ‘pull factor’ – a claim totally without evidence – the government has pulled the rug out from people desperate to bring their loved ones to safety.

The politicised issue of people arriving on small boats to seek protection in the UK has dominated headlines for what, at this point, feels like a lifetime, leaving little room for the real issues affecting all of us – squeezes on pay and workers’ rights, a never-ending housing crisis, skyrocketing child poverty and more. The simple truth is that the only way to stop people risking their lives in overcrowded boats to cross the Channel isn’t ever more punitive policies: it’s to make sure people have genuinely safe ways to travel here to seek protection, as is their right under international law.

The gutting irony here is that refugee family reunion – the policy which has just been abruptly suspended – was one of the very few such safe routes that existed. Now, people who have finally – often after many years of waiting – been granted the right to rebuild their lives here will have to wait months in agony while their children and partners endure the same terror from which they fled. Despair over the system’s suspension is compounded by uncertainty at what will come when the new rules are finally announced.

As representatives of their communities, local councillors up and down the country are seeing first-hand the devastation this announcement is already causing. Members of the Migrant Champions Network – a cross-party network of local councillors advocating for the rights of migrant residents – have received countless emails from residents panicked about the safety of their loved ones. On the flipside, councillors see just how positive it is for our communities when newcomers can reunite with their loved ones and begin to rebuild their lives in peace of mind.

Isolation, fear and despair are toxic to our communities – a system that reunites people with their loved ones is the opposite.

The Migrant Champions Network’s joint statement against these rule changes is a chance for councillors to speak up for the rights of all residents to safety, love and dignity. We are urging local councillors – particularly Labour councillors – to sign before 18:00 on Thursday, 18th September, to reject performative cruelty and imagine a better future for all our communities.

Mary Atkinson is Coordinator of the Migrant Champions Network.