Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assistance her Department is providing to Rohingya families who are settled in Bradford from the UN Gateway Protection Programme to reunite with extended dependants who are residing stateless in refugee camps in Bangladesh.

The Government already provides a safe and legal route to bring families together through its family reunion policy. This allows a partner and children under 18 of those granted protection in the UK to join them here, if they formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country. Refugees may apply to sponsor family via this route free of charge.

Our policy makes clear there is discretion to grant visas outside the Immigration Rules, which caters for extended family members in exceptional circumstances – including young adult sons or daughters who are dependent on family here and living in dangerous situations.

There are separate provisions in the Rules to allow extended family to sponsor children to come here where there are serious and compelling circumstances.

Refugees can also sponsor adult dependent relatives living overseas to join them where, due to age, illness or disability, the person requires long-term personal care which can only be provided by relatives in the UK.

Refugees who have since gained British citizenship may sponsor family under Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules.