FAMILY REUNION
RESTRICTED
4
(b) The effect of the strict family reunion criteria
on those Vietnamese already here.
More a question for the Home Office who are responsible for
setting the criteria and who have more direct contact than
ourselves with the voluntary agencies who work with the Vietnamese
here. But there can be little doubt that where refugees
already in this country have been unable to arrange for their
families to join them there must be some distress. This will be particularly marked in cases where refugees have been affected by the change in criteria in 1981, when entry was
limited to spouses and minor children.
It should be borne in mind that the Home Secretary gives careful
consideration on a case-by-case basis to applications for reunion from other relatives, and that it is open to any refugee here to appeal on behalf of any relative who falls
outside the criteria.
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