Refugees and people seeking asylum have launched a new petition demanding an end to “cruel” settlement and family reunion changes.
Announced by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood in November, proposed changes to migration rules could see the rights of refugee families to reunite curbed; force people granted refugee status to wait in limbo, under threat of return every 30 months, for as long as 20 years; and make it much harder for refugees and other migrants to make the UK their permanent home.
The plans have sparked huge concern in many communities, and campaigning efforts are underway up and down the country to ensure these damaging plans do not go ahead. Last week, a group of refugees and people seeking asylum in the West Midlands joined together to share how they’d been affected by the plans, and call on the Government to bring them to an end. Now, they’re urging the public to show their support by signing and sharing their demand.
In an emotional petition, they wrote: “When we heard about plans to force us to wait at least 20 years to know if we can stay safely in the UK, many of us could not sleep. We faced nightmares about what is going to happen to us and our families.
“Now we face the mental health impact of potentially decades in limbo, not knowing whether we are going to be granted leave to remain.
“These proposals don’t just delay paperwork; they delay lives, hopes, and dreams. For some of us, our children have been born and/or raised in this country and know no other home. For others, our children are trapped abroad, and these plans could make it impossible to reunite with them. We want to work and be productive, but we cannot do this if we are refused support and constantly threatened with having to leave.”
Within days of being set up, the petition had gathered hundreds of signatures. But if we want to make a real impact, we’ll need thousands more.
Please sign the petition here and share it with everyone you know. We must show that the public chooses compassion, and doesn’t want the lives of refugees and other migrants to be left in limbo.
Don’t leave refugees in limbo: Scrap the 20-year wait | 38 Degrees
