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Written Question
Afghanistan: Refugees
Wednesday 13th December 2023

Asked by: Baroness Smith of Newnham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role played by the Afghan Territorial Force (ATF) 444 in supporting UK Forces, and whether ATF personnel should be eligible to come to the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.

Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I refer the noble Lady to the answer given by my hon. Friend, the Minister for the Armed Forces (James Heappey), in the House of Commons on 30 November to the hon. Member for Glasgow Central (Ms Alison Thewliss) in response to Question 3862.


Written Question
Afghanistan: Refugees
Wednesday 13th December 2023

Asked by: Baroness Smith of Newnham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many Afghans and their families have come to the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy in the last two months, and how many they expect to arrive before 31 December.

Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Over 1,500 ARAP Eligible Principals (EPs) and their family members have been relocated in the past two months. Many factors govern the flow of relocation, but we are endeavouring to bring as many eligible Afghans as possible to the UK, as quickly as possible.


Written Question
Afghanistan: Refugees
Wednesday 13th December 2023

Asked by: Baroness Smith of Newnham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what advice they are giving to those eligible to come to the UK under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme and the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy who are currently in Pakistan and whose visas have expired or will shortly expire.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

We have received verbal assurances from the Government of Pakistan that Afghans supported in Pakistan under UK resettlement schemes will remain safe while they await relocation to the UK. We have suggested that eligible families take sensible precautions including when outside of their accommodation. We have also made them aware of how to respond if approached by the police, including providing contact details for the International Organization for Migration (IOM)/British High Commission. We have distributed letters to every eligible family to help ensure the Government of Pakistan are aware those individuals are under our protection.


Written Question
Afghanistan: Refugees
Wednesday 13th December 2023

Asked by: Baroness Smith of Newnham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the recent change in their policy regarding the cap on the number of Afghans eligible to come to the UK under Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme, what plans they have to charter planes to allow those to leave Pakistan and arrive in the UK via a safe route.

Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will see up to 20,000 people from Afghanistan and the region resettled to the UK over the coming years.

Flights for those being resettled under the ACRS are organised by the International Organisation for Migration, in line with requests from the Home Office. As flights are operational you will appreciate, we cannot go into operational details.

We will continue to honour our commitment to bring eligible Afghans to the UK, with new arrivals going directly into settled accommodation where possible.


Written Question
Afghanistan: Refugees
Wednesday 13th December 2023

Asked by: Baroness Smith of Newnham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of Afghans eligible to come to the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy who are currently (1) still in Afghanistan, or (2) in Pakistan.

Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

As of 30 November 2023, there are around 2,991 confirmed ARAP Eligible Principals (EPs) and their family members in Afghanistan, and 2,047 in Pakistan.

These figures fluctuate as we continue to identify eligible individuals. We are committed to support the relocation of eligible Afghans and their families out of Afghanistan and Pakistan as quickly as possible. To date we have brought approximately 13,600 to safety in the UK under the ARAP scheme.


Written Question
Zaporozhye Titanium and Magnesium Combine
Tuesday 30th October 2018

Asked by: Baroness Smith of Newnham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the possible security implications for the UK of the privatisation of the ZTMC Titanium Mine in Ukraine.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

​In May this year the Ukrainian Government Committee on Economic Policy in Kyiv approved a list of large state-owned enterprises which would be privatised in 2018. This included Zaporizhia Titanium and Magnesium Combine, which was previously managed by the State Property Fund. It is not yet clear who will take over management of the company. We have not made a separate assessment of the security implications for the UK.