Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of restricting student visa access for women and girls from Afghanistan on the ability of those people to access education.

The UK has a proud tradition of supporting education, equality, and human rights, and we remain dedicated to helping the people of Afghanistan. Our current £151 million aid program (equivalent to 13.3 billion Afghanis) provides vital life-saving support to the country’s most vulnerable people, especially women and girls. We are committed that at least 50% of those reached by UK aid in Afghanistan are women and girls.

As set out in the Restoring Order and Control policy statement, the Government remains committed to the introduction of capped safe and legal routes for refugees and displaced people to come to the United Kingdom. These new safe and legal routes will start this autumn with a student refugee route, with the first arrivals in Autumn 2027. Dedicated humanitarian routes are the appropriate way to combine compassion and control with securing our border.

In the past 3 years more Afghan students claimed asylum than we issued new student visas in each year. This does not achieve the appropriate balance between compassion, control and a secure border.