Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Government's decision on Afghan interpreters’ applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain, what assessment has been made of the potential merits of extending that decision to interpreters who supported the UK armed forces in Iraq.

In 2007, the Government introduced a scheme catering for locally engaged Iraqi nationals who supported our Armed Forces in Iraq. The scheme allowed those who had completed 12 months or more of continuous service to relocate to the UK. Those who relocated had the right to settle here permanently, the right to work and access to mainstream benefits.