Refugees’ Right to Family Unity in Belgium and the Netherlands: ‘Life is Nothing without Family’

Although refugees have a right to family reunification, less than a third of Eritrean applications are accepted in the Netherlands. Family reunification is largely inaccessible due to complex legal procedures and the inability of refugees to collect the documents required. This is compounded by the lack of diplomatic relations with Eritrea and the discretionary, and sometimes unjustified, practices of the authorities in both Europe and Eritrea. There is concern that the onerous legal requirements are causing the relatives of refugees to cross borders illegally and make payments for unobtainable documents, as well as fuelling unsafe and dangerous migration trajectories.