Afghan Refugees: Deportation from Pakistan

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 17th April 2024 Commons Chamber

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

The hon. Gentleman highlights the fact that the review of further potential eligible applicants is ongoing by the Ministry of Defence, and as decisions on eligibility are made, they will of course have the support of those who are already in the scheme and eligible to come to the UK. I am very proud of this broad and generous scheme, and I have no doubt that it will continue to run for some time while we bring many of these refugees to the UK.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Minister, as always, for her responses. What steps will the Government take, not only to provide safe passage and routes for Afghans and allies to reach the UK, but to provide them with safe legal status? I give the example of the case of one of my constituents, who served in Afghanistan in the Army. Alongside him served an Afghani. That Afghani had to leave Afghanistan with his family and flee to Pakistan. I met him in Pakistan almost three years ago. The point I want to make is that if we can get that gentleman and his family—his wife and four children—to the Strangford constituency, we will get him a job and house, and we will make sure that his children are educated. He needs a visa to ensure that he gets here, and if the Minister can process his application correctly, the good people of Strangford will do the rest.

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

I have absolute confidence that the communities of Strangford will wrap their arms around those refugees who come to the UK, and if there is a particular issue, the hon. Gentleman is very welcome to write to me. The British high commission in Islamabad is working constantly with those there who are eligible to do that paperwork. Their number is quite extensive; there are a lot of them. If there is a particular case that he would like to raise with me, I would be happy to discuss it.