Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure that Afghans who have worked for the British Armed Forces will not be forced to leave the UK under the relocation scheme.

The Government is strongly committed to fulfilling its responsibilities to current and former locally employed staff in Afghanistan. Ministry of Defence officials continue to work closely with the Home Office on all aspects of the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy, which offers current and former Afghan staff the opportunity to build safe and secure futures for themselves and their families in the UK.

The relocation scheme contains no provisions within it that force former locally employed staff who have worked for the British Armed Forces to leave the UK, and the Government has already supported more than 1,380 former Afghan staff and their families in creating new lives in the UK.