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| ‘I can’t sleep, I can’t get on with my life’: how Europe’s tougher rules are keeping families apart | ‘I can’t sleep, I can’t get on with my life’: how Europe’s tougher rules are keeping families apart |
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| Tighter family reunification laws are causing long separations, traumatising children, and can push people towards traffickers, campaigners say | Tighter family reunification laws are causing long separations, traumatising children, and can push people towards traffickers, campaigners say |
| Standing outside Germany’s parliament in June, Ahmad Shikh Ali fought back tears as he held up a blurry photo of his three-year-old son. Since fleeing Aleppo more than two years ago, Shikh Ali had done all he could to secure his son a safe future: moving to Hanover, getting full-time employment and wading through endless paperwork so that his wife and son could join him. | Standing outside Germany’s parliament in June, Ahmad Shikh Ali fought back tears as he held up a blurry photo of his three-year-old son. Since fleeing Aleppo more than two years ago, Shikh Ali had done all he could to secure his son a safe future: moving to Hanover, getting full-time employment and wading through endless paperwork so that his wife and son could join him. |
| He was close to reuniting with his family, with just two cases in front of his in the queue. That was, until Germany’s lower house of parliament passed a bill in June to suspend family reunifications for migrants like him for at least two years. | He was close to reuniting with his family, with just two cases in front of his in the queue. That was, until Germany’s lower house of parliament passed a bill in June to suspend family reunifications for migrants like him for at least two years. |
| “Since I learned of this decision I can’t sleep, I can’t get on with my life,” Shikh Ali told reporters as he broke into tears. “My son was crawling when I left him; he is walking now.” | “Since I learned of this decision I can’t sleep, I can’t get on with my life,” Shikh Ali told reporters as he broke into tears. “My son was crawling when I left him; he is walking now.” |
| It is a hint of how people’s lives have been reshaped in recent months as a handful of governments in the EU move to restrict family reunification. While campaigners have contextualised the measures as part of a wider push by politicians to be seen as tough on migration, they say the focus on family reunification is misguided. | It is a hint of how people’s lives have been reshaped in recent months as a handful of governments in the EU move to restrict family reunification. While campaigners have contextualised the measures as part of a wider push by politicians to be seen as tough on migration, they say the focus on family reunification is misguided. |
| “It really doesn’t make sense,” said Federica Toscano of Save the Children Europe. “We have politicians who proudly claim to want to make migration much more manageable, fair, organised and planned – and family reunification is one of the most planned, legally secure and integration-promoting ways of taking in people who are seeking protection.” | “It really doesn’t make sense,” said Federica Toscano of Save the Children Europe. “We have politicians who proudly claim to want to make migration much more manageable, fair, organised and planned – and family reunification is one of the most planned, legally secure and integration-promoting ways of taking in people who are seeking protection.” |
| In March, Austria became the first in the EU to temporarily suspend family reunification for refugees, citing overstretched social services. Politicians in Germany, Portugal, Finland and Belgium also set their sights on families, tightening conditions for legal residents seeking to be reunited with family members. | |
| Several governments have attempted to invoke a sense of emergency to push through the measures, which clash with the right to a family life enshrined in treaties such as the European convention on human rights and the EU’s charter of fundamental rights. “Family unity is a value in our society,” said Toscano. “But when it comes to foreign families, it seems like this becomes less important, less valuable.” | Several governments have attempted to invoke a sense of emergency to push through the measures, which clash with the right to a family life enshrined in treaties such as the European convention on human rights and the EU’s charter of fundamental rights. “Family unity is a value in our society,” said Toscano. “But when it comes to foreign families, it seems like this becomes less important, less valuable.” |
| A recent study by Save the Children in Finland found that the average reunification process took six and a half years, with some families spending as long as 10 years in limbo. | A recent study by Save the Children in Finland found that the average reunification process took six and a half years, with some families spending as long as 10 years in limbo. |
| The restrictions on family reunification belie the fact that the number of people arriving through these programmes remains relatively small. In Austria, for example, about 18,000 people arrived in 2023 and 2024 through family reunification programmes. About 13,000 were children. Many had lived through “long, painful” years of being separated from a parent, said Toscano. “The longer the process takes, the more trauma you add to these children.” | The restrictions on family reunification belie the fact that the number of people arriving through these programmes remains relatively small. In Austria, for example, about 18,000 people arrived in 2023 and 2024 through family reunification programmes. About 13,000 were children. Many had lived through “long, painful” years of being separated from a parent, said Toscano. “The longer the process takes, the more trauma you add to these children.” |
| The measures could also backfire by boosting the criminal networks that the EU has long purported to be against, said Thomas Willekens of Refugee Action Flanders. Faced with few other options, people may “decide to take the irregular route and perhaps use human smugglers”, he said. | The measures could also backfire by boosting the criminal networks that the EU has long purported to be against, said Thomas Willekens of Refugee Action Flanders. Faced with few other options, people may “decide to take the irregular route and perhaps use human smugglers”, he said. |
| He saw a similar incongruence among those calling for restrictions on family reunification. “It’s striking to us that the political parties who in their programmes attach a lot of value to family life, to families as the core of society, are at the forefront in limiting the right of a family life of a certain group.” | He saw a similar incongruence among those calling for restrictions on family reunification. “It’s striking to us that the political parties who in their programmes attach a lot of value to family life, to families as the core of society, are at the forefront in limiting the right of a family life of a certain group.” |
| In Germany, more than 380,000 people – most of them Syrians – are expected to be affected by the plans to suspend family reunification for migrants with subsidiary protection status, which grants legal residency to people who do not qualify as refugees but could face serious harm if sent back to their country of origin. | In Germany, more than 380,000 people – most of them Syrians – are expected to be affected by the plans to suspend family reunification for migrants with subsidiary protection status, which grants legal residency to people who do not qualify as refugees but could face serious harm if sent back to their country of origin. |
| Berlin first suspended family reunification for this group in 2016, later partly reinstating it in 2018 with a cap of 1,000 visas a month. | Berlin first suspended family reunification for this group in 2016, later partly reinstating it in 2018 with a cap of 1,000 visas a month. |
| The negative effects of family separation have long been documented, from adverse mental health to feelings of isolation. Wiebke Judith, of the German refugee rights advocacy group Pro Asyl, said: “It’s extremely hard for people who come here and are worrying every day about their kids, their spouses, to concentrate on learning German, finding a job or on doing normal, everyday things. It’s a huge mental burden that can lead to signs of depression and frustration.” | |
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| The process often takes a toll on everyone involved. “It really destroys families; the lack of seeing each other, the lack of being with each other but also the frustrations from the long waiting times,” she said. “It’s just something that can really break people, to be this much at the mercy of the authorities just to see their closest family.” | The process often takes a toll on everyone involved. “It really destroys families; the lack of seeing each other, the lack of being with each other but also the frustrations from the long waiting times,” she said. “It’s just something that can really break people, to be this much at the mercy of the authorities just to see their closest family.” |
| In Austria, where the centre-right People’s party (OVP) has long taken a hardline stance on migration, the government had already blocked other safe, legal pathways for asylum seekers, said Aimée Stuflesser of Amnesty International Austria. | In Austria, where the centre-right People’s party (OVP) has long taken a hardline stance on migration, the government had already blocked other safe, legal pathways for asylum seekers, said Aimée Stuflesser of Amnesty International Austria. |
| “Now without family reunification, this means people will be taking much more irregular routes that will risk their integrity and their life, so we really see this as also life-threatening,” she said. | “Now without family reunification, this means people will be taking much more irregular routes that will risk their integrity and their life, so we really see this as also life-threatening,” she said. |
| Women and children, in particular, would probably be put in more danger by the measures, she said. “We know that women are in more vulnerable situations when they take irregular routes,” she said, pointing to risks such as exploitation, abuse and trafficking. | Women and children, in particular, would probably be put in more danger by the measures, she said. “We know that women are in more vulnerable situations when they take irregular routes,” she said, pointing to risks such as exploitation, abuse and trafficking. |
| “Migration will not stop. People want to be with their family and they cannot stay in their home countries. So this will mean more people risking their lives to be together.” | “Migration will not stop. People want to be with their family and they cannot stay in their home countries. So this will mean more people risking their lives to be together.” |
| This article was amended on 25 August 2025. Germany, Portugal, Finland and Belgium have not followed Austria in temporarily suspending family reunification for refugees, as an earlier version indicated, but rather they have tightened conditions regarding family reunification. |