Step in & safely reunite refugee minors in the EU with their families in the UK

On April 1st Muhammed Hassan squeezed onto a lorry to try and reach his uncle in Manchester. He was 17 and died that night. Muhammed had a legal right to reunite with his family and continuing government failure to step in and reunite these families is leaving hundreds of minors and children at risk

In law refugee children in the EU have a right to reunite with their families. The process for this is broken. Just a handful of children have been reunited after months of legal battles.

In February 120,000 of us warned that unless government set up an expedited process in Calais that children would be left at risk. Now a minor who fled “Islamic State” has died just 14 miles from the Prime Minister’s house trying to reach his uncle. No more children should die trying to reach their loved ones.

The death of Muhammad Hassan was a tragedy and our thoughts are with his family. This tragic incident further highlights the dangers of making perilous journeys across the Channel.

The Government continues to work with key EU Member States, including France, to ensure the Dublin Regulation family reunification process works effectively. Under the UK-France Joint Declaration, the UK and France have committed to ensuring that the provisions of the Dublin III Regulation are used efficiently and effectively. To assist the handling of such cases, the two Governments have established a permanent official contact group, agreed single points of contact within respective Dublin Units and a UK asylum expert was seconded to the French administration to facilitate the improvement of all stages of the process. The UK and France are running regular joint communication campaigns in northern France which inform unaccompanied children and others of their right to claim asylum in France.

Between the start of January 2016 and 2 July 2016, our records indicate that the UK has accepted over 50 requests from France under the Dublin Regulation to take charge of asylum seeking children on family grounds of which more than 40 have already been transferred to the UK. Between the start of January 2016 and 2 July 2016, our records indicate that the UK has accepted over 40 requests from the rest of Europe (excluding France) under the Dublin Regulation to take charge of asylum seeking children on family grounds of which more than 15 have already been transferred to the UK.