Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Safeguarding and Afghan Resettlement of 13 September 2021, Official Report, Column 700, what support his Department plans to provide to help Afghan nationals preserve their (a) language and (b) culture when they are resettled in the UK.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Under Operation Warm Welcome, we are taking a cross-government approach to ensuring Afghans arriving in the UK are able to rebuild their lives, find work, pursue education and integrate with their local communities.
They will also receive comprehensive integration support as they start their new lives in the UK. A package of support to acclimatise to the UK, learn English, and find work, will enable rapid self-sufficiency and social integration in UK communities.
As part of this, we are creating a portal where people, organisations and businesses can register offers of support. This could include volunteering, offers of employment or to provide professional skills pro bono, including helping those arriving deal with trauma, or offering donations of mobile phones, mobile credit or data, laptops, access to training, clothes and toys. This will complement the Afghanistan housing portal which has been set up to collect offers of additional housing support.
We will also be extending the Community Sponsorship Scheme (CSS) so that friends and neighbours, charities and faith groups can come together to support a family through the ACRS. We will make it easier and quicker for community groups to become sponsors so that more people can play a direct role in the warm welcome we will extend to these new members of our communities.