Family Reunification: How European Migration Politics Compromise the Right to Family Union

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AUTHOR: Beverly Mtui

Have you ever questioned whether the right to be living with your family could be taken away from you? Being separated from your family can be a choice for many, for example, when migration is motivated by economic opportunities, such as for employment or education. In such cases, you may leave your family behind, but you know that your migration experience will not hinder you from seeing them again anytime soon. But what if leaving your family behind is not a choice? What if, in an effort to escape violence, conflict or even war, you are not only forced to leave behind your home, but also your family, with no assurance of when, or even whether, you will see them again?

Family reunification as the right to family union
According to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, family reunification is a process for refugees, as well as for those seeking or under subsidiary or complementary protection, though under different requirements, to reunite with family members after forced migration or separation. The right to family union is universally acknowledged, and States have the obligation to safeguard family life for refugees, which is also protected under international and regional laws (UNHCR, n.d.). Furthermore, family reunification enables safe migration pathways for family members, and once family members are reunited, this has positive impacts, including on integration and well-being, both physical and emotional, for example, by feeling more secure with family around and dealing with conflict-related trauma (UNHCR, n.d.). On the flipside, prolonged family separation can take a serious toll on refugees, particularly on children and young people. In a joint report (2019), Amnesty International UK, the Refugee Council and Save the Children analyse the impact of family separation on child refugees in the UK. The report reveals, through in-depth interviews with children, young people and professionals, how the UK’s stringent policies on family reunification affect child and youth refugees’ physical and emotional well-being by denying them “the fundamental right of being with their family” (p. 3). For example, some of the children interviewed who had fled conflict and war in Kurdistan, Sudan and Afghanistan shared feelings of anxiety and fear regarding their families’ absence, and particularly due to the uncertainty of not knowing how they were and whether they were safe (Amnesty International UK et al., 2019, p. 17):

• “Every day [he] talks about his mum. Every day. Every day there is a reference to his family, particularly his mum. He worries so much about her. She is elderly and she is on her own[.]” – Social worker on a 17-year-old refugee from the Kurdistan region of Iraq
  
• “It is really hard, that is all I can say. Something burning from inside you but you cannot switch it off and you cannot avoid it as well[.]” – 17-year-old refugee from Sudan on the impact of his family’s absence
  
• “Knowing that family are unsafe is a barrier to young people feeling balanced and feeling stable, always having to fight with the worry about close family.” – Legal representative of a 17-year old refugee from Afghanistan

Europe’s infringement on the right to family reunification
As more stringent migration laws are adopted across Europe, family reunification policies and measures are unfortunately also heavily compromised. In 2025, several European countries continued to significantly reduce or even halt the possibility of family reunion for refugees and those seeking protection. In Austria, while family reunification for asylum-seekers and those granted subsidiary protection was set to only be suspended for six months starting in July 2025, the suspension was extended until at least July 2026, “effectively removing the only safe pathway to Austria for those seeking protection” (Amnesty International, 2026; Amnesty International Österreich, 2026a). In Germany, the suspension of family reunification for persons with subsidiary protection status was announced in July 2025 and is set to last for 2 years, with only limited exceptions (Amnesty International, 2026; Amnesty International Deutschland, 2026). In Portugal, the parliament tightened family reunification rights for migrants and asylum seekers in September 2025, while Sweden introduced new infringing amendments to its asylum and migration laws, including in the area of family reunification, in the same year (Amnesty International, 2026). In the UK, refugee family reunification has been suspended as of late 2025 (Amnesty International, 2026; Amnesty International, n.d.). Unfortunately, this list is not exhaustive, and this pattern can be seen across Europe, where family reunification as a universal right for families to live together is increasingly under threat.

The future of family reunification: continued restrictions on family life?
While the future of family reunification policies does not seem promising, Austria is offering a so-called “solution” that Amnesty International Austria has heavily criticised. The Austrian government is planning to introduce a quota system under which family members could only reunify if a place is available within that quota (Amnesty International Österreich, 2026a). Aimée Stuflesser, Advocacy & Research Officer at Amnesty International Austria, described this as a politically motivated violation of human rights law, incompatible with EU law and the case law of the European Court of Justice. She warned that such a quota system would lead to years of family separation while removing the only safe refugee pathway to Austria (Amnesty International Österreich, 2026a, 2026b). Austria’s proposed quota system is just one example of how European governments are increasingly prioritising political interests over human rights obligations. Echoing Amnesty’s efforts in Austria and internationally, families have the right to stay together, and the right to family reunification must be ensured. Prolonged family separation causes long-term implications to psychological and physical well-being, which governments have a duty to tackle and ensure that family life is protected for everyone, including refugees, asylum-seekers and those seeking protection. Therefore, upholding the right to family union is upholding human rights, and must be done so without falling into the trap of instrumentalising migration politics that, rather than making societies safer as is so often claimed, expose individuals to greater vulnerabilities, harms and dangers.

Resources:

• Amnesty International. (n.d.). United Kingdom 2025. https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/europe-and-central-asia/western-central-and south-eastern-europe/united-kingdom/report-united-kingdom/
• Amnesty International. (2026). The State of the World’s Human Rights: April 2026. Amnesty International. https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/pol10/0320/2026/en/
• Amnesty International Deutschland. (2026). Deutschland 2025. https://www.amnesty.de/informieren/amnesty-report/deutschland-2025
• Amnesty International Österreich. (2026a). Familienzusammenführung: Amnesty warnt vor menschenrechtswidriger Quotenregelung. https://www.amnesty.at/presse/familienzusammenfuehrung-amnesty-warnt-vormenschenrechtswidriger-quotenregelung/
• Amnesty International Österreich. (2026b). Familienzusammenführung Österreich: Soll das Zusammensein mit der Familie wirklich ein Glücksspiel sein?.https://www.amnesty.at/news-events/news/familienzusammenfuehrung-oesterreichsoll-das-zusammensein-mit-der-familie-wirklich-ein-gluecksspiel-sein/
• Amnesty International UK, Refugee Council, & Save the Children UK. (2019).Without my family: The impact of family separation on child refugees in the UK. Amnesty International UK. https://media.amnesty.org.uk/documents/Without_my_family_report.pdf
• UNHCR. (n.d.). Family reunification. https://www.unhcr.org/what-we-do/build-betterfutures/solutions/complementary-pathways/family-reunification