The Long Road to Reunion from the British Red Cross looks at the challenges faced by refugee families in reaching a Visa Application Centre as part of their application for family reunion. Based on the experiences of 100 families, the report shows the dangers and costs faced by families; from lengthy trips across conflict zones or over difficult terrain, to reliance on smugglers to cross borders. It also highlights the increased levels of risk for these families given that nine out of ten facing these journeys are women or children.

Refugee family reunion should be a safe and legal way for families who have been separated by war, violence and persecution to be together. The Long Road to Reunion concludes that for too many families, this is not the case. The report makes some clear recommendations to the Home Office on how, by making some simple changes to the application process, they can make refugee family reunion a safer way for families to be together.  It received coverage in both the Guardian and the Independent.

What you can do:

Sign the Amnesty Families Together Petition

Sign and Share the Refugee Council open letter with your MP

Share (or adapt) these tweets / social media posts:

• Families torn apart by war, persecution or violence want to be able to live together again in safety. @redcrosspolicy’s new report makes simple recommendations for how this can happen. http://bit.ly/The_Long_Road #EveryRefugeeMatters #FamiliesTogether
•  Families of refugees face incredibly dangerous journeys just to apply to reunite with their loved ones. @RedCrossPolicy is calling for a simple change so that families know the outcome before they risk their lives. http://bit.ly/The_Long_Road #EveryRefugeeMatters #FamiliesTogether
• 9 in 10 people trying to reunite with refugees in the UK are women and children. But as @redcrosspolicy’s new report shows, the process puts many at risk. Time to make refugee family reunion safer. http://bit.ly/The_Long_Road #EveryRefugeeMatters #FamiliesTogether

More information about the campaign see the Families Together Website. To find out more about the campaign or to join the coalition, please email [email protected]