Overview

• Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced a temporary suspension of new applications under the dedicated refugee family reunion route, with refugees required to use the standard family migration rules until a new framework is in place.
• An asylum policy statement due later this year will propose tougher eligibility, including higher English-language and income thresholds and longer waits before newly granted refugees can apply to bring family, with changes targeted for the spring.
• Cooper said the move responds to councils reporting rising homelessness linked to swift family reunion applications, citing cases lodged about a month after protection is granted.
• The Home Office highlighted 347 National Crime Agency disruptions of immigration crime networks in 2024/25, a record and up 40% year on year, as officials reported August’s lowest Channel boat numbers since 2019 but a year‑to‑date record of 29,003 arrivals.
• Ministers said detentions have begun under the UK‑France one‑in, one‑out returns pilot with the first deportations expected later this month, while No 10 reaffirmed ECHR membership and plans to tighten Article 8’s domestic application as protests and the Bell Hotel legal battle continue.