Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Afghan citizens who (a) worked for and (b) were affiliated with the UK government are (i) accepted for settlement in the UK and (ii) evacuated from Afghanistan in a timely manner.

Under Pathway 3 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), up to 1500 eligible at-risk British Council and GardaWorld contractors and Chevening alumni will be offered resettlement in the first year. FCDO received over 11,400 Expressions of Interest; we are processing these and notifying eligible people with advice on next steps. We are doing everything we can to bring the first Pathway 3 arrivals to the UK as soon as possible. Over 6,300 people have already been relocated under the ACRS, in addition to those brought to safety under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme, led by the UK's Ministry of Defence.