Britain has said it will suspend applications from asylum seekers already in the country who request to bring in other family members to give the government time to draw up stricter rules, Reuters reports.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is facing growing pressure to reduce the number of asylum seekers crossing the English Channel from France in small boats. Hotels where the government has placed migrants have become a constant source of protest, with demonstrations often turning violent.
Britain’s Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told parliament that more asylum seekers are applying to bring in family members, adding to the country’s already strained housing situation. Many are applying to bring in family members within a month,
while in 2019 the waiting time was from a year to two, or more.
Cooper said she was temporarily suspending the system to give the government time to come up with tougher rules. She added that the system should be based on fair and properly applied rules, not chaos and exploitation by smugglers.
The government, which has been accused of moving too slowly, has said it is tackling the problem left behind by previous Conservative governments by trying to speed up asylum applications and preparing return agreements with other countries.
Meanwhile, public discontent has given populist Reform Party leader Nigel Farage a boost.
The current system allows a person who has obtained permission to remain in the country to also bring their partner (if it can be proven that the relationship has lasted at least two years) and children under the age of 18.
29,000 people have already arrived in the Britain across the Channel this year, a 38% increase on the same period last year.
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