Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to broaden the Afghan Resettlement Programme to allow more refugees from conflict zones to reach sanctuary in the UK.

The UK has a long history of supporting refugees in need of protection. Since 2015, we have resettled more than 27,000 refugees through safe and legal routes direct from regions of conflict and instability, around half of whom were children.

In responding to the crisis in Afghanistan, the Government launched both the Afghan Relocations & Assistance Policy (ARAP), through which Afghans employed by the UK locally in Afghanistan can relocate here, and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), which will resettle up to 20,000 people at-risk.

The UK also continues to welcome vulnerable people through the global UK Resettlement Scheme, Mandate Resettlement Scheme and the Community Sponsorship Scheme.