Yemeni family's asylum claims to be looked at together after Home Office U-turn (The Guardian) (27 April 2021)

A family had been told they could not remain together in UK as the father travelled by plane whilst the sons came by boat. The government change of heart emerged days after an announcement from the home secretary that how people enter the UK would have a bearing on the progress of their asylum claim. Priti Patel said asylum seekers should stay in the first safe country they arrive in rather than travelling onwards to the UK. Hannah Baynes, the family’s solicitor, comments “We are pleased that after months of uncertainty, the Home Office has agreed that Hassan, Hamzeh and Hazem’s asylum claims can be considered in the UK and that there are no longer any plans for them to be removed to Spain. The past few months have been particularly stressful for them, and so it is good news that the brothers can now remain living in the UK with their father, whose asylum claim is already being processed in the UK. It is unclear exactly why the Home Office decided to do this; all that we have been told is that this is due to their individual circumstances.”