Reuniting Refugees: How UK Law is Keeping Families Apart
'We didn't know if my dad was going to die or not. When I said goodbye to my dad, I hugged him a lot because I thought it would be the last time I would see him. Imagine you are holding somebody and you know that you are not going to see them anymore. How do you hold someone who you know is going to break?'
Nabila lives in Scotland with her mother and two brothers; they form a family saved from Syrian conflict and reunited by the UK Home Office's family reunion programme. Her story is a happy one, but many others have a far more saddening end.

The Growing DivideWe are witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record. The year 2016 saw 22.5 million refugees[1] forced to flee their homes, nearly half of which were under the age of 18. This creates endless situations like Nabila's: families torn apart by war, natural disasters or persecution; children made orphans; parents made childless. But sadly, unlike Nabila, many young people don't ever see the happy reunion once they reach the UK.
As a country which currently accommodates nearly 120,000 refugees, we have to ask: just what is making children take the dangerous journey across Europe alone, and preventing them from finding their families in the UK?

A Law to Keep Families ApartThe issue, perhaps unsurprisingly, lies in UK Immigration Rules. We need only examine a few to see the shocking injustice of our policies; incredibly, extended family members such as aunts, in-laws and even adult siblings cannot legally sponsor child relatives to join them here under refugee family policies.
The problem goes the other way, too. The UK excludes young adults and in-laws from the list of 'dependent relatives' who can join a family member here under refugee status. It's clear and saddening to see that this is keeping families apart for longer, perhaps even indefinitely, with no legal way of becoming reunited under UK Law.

Keeping Them ApartNeedless to say this is causing further suffering for child refugees, whose infancy may already be scarred by terrifying and often violent experiences. The perilous journey to safety is made ever more traumatic for children by being faced alone, torn from their parents, siblings, uncles or cousins who, just like in the case of Nabila, are unsure whether they'll ever be reunited.
And for those who arrive safely, the suffering may only continue. How can we offer refugees the security of our country, whilst prolonging their suffering by forcing them to live apart? With the current rules, we are only further barring child refugees from a fulfilling childhood, and chaining them to one filled with yet more loss and loneliness.
Imagine suffering the trauma of a conflict or disaster, surviving the dangerous journey to safety which so often ends in tragedy, and reaching a stable place only to find that you know nothing of the fate of your father, your sister, your daughter... the agony only continues.

A Child is a ChildIt goes without saying that we must change the UK's policy on family reunion. How can we allow ourselves to force any child to make such a dangerous journey alone? How can we leave some behind, and keep some from finding family members here?
A child is a child. This is the message of Unicef's campaign to keep families together, and a petition to the UK Home Secretary is quickly gaining ground. But that's not all; even here on campus we can make a difference. Why not act now? Sign Unicef's petition and encourage others to do the same, engage with our local MP to raise awareness and support our campaign – changing the injustices in our system starts with us.
We can't stop children from becoming refugees. However, we can help to reduce their suffering and create more happy stories like Nabila's. If we act together, we can help to fix the law that is keeping families apart.
Want to join Unicef's campaign, or learn more about Nabila's story and those of other child refugees? Head over to www.unicef.org.uk/keeping-families-together to find out more.
[1] UNHCR figures, 2016-2017 (www.unhcr.org/uk/figures-at-a-glance.html)

Join our campaign to keep families together - Unicef UK
Show your solidarity with refugee and migrant children - ask Home Secretary Amber Rudd to fix the law that is keeping families apart.

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