As the government imposes stricter rules for families of asylum seekers coming to the UK, one mother tells how her son is growing up without her
“My son says ‘I miss you, when am I seeing you?’ Sometimes I lie to give him false hope. There’s a growing detachment there, because he knows I have lied to him.”
Kim is an asylum seeker based in Yorkshire, England. The 35-year-old, who has asked to use only a pseudonym out of fears for her safety, is among those in the UK who do not know when – or if – they will be able to see their children again, as the Labour government cracks down on the asylum system.
On Monday the government published a policy document setting out sweeping changes, which, the prime minister said, were aimed at “tackling severe strain on both our asylum system and our wider social contract”.
The changes would formally end the automatic right to family reunion for refugees, which allowed people’s relatives to join them in the UK once their asylum claim had been accepted.
