Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to introduce further pathways under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.

We are determined to honour our commitment to those who supported us in Afghanistan and who stood up for freedom and democracy, placing their own lives at risk.

As of September 2024, we have brought around 33,400 individuals from Afghanistan - or a third country - to safety in the UK. This includes British Nationals and their families, Afghans who loyally served the UK and others identified as particularly at-risk, such as campaigners for women’s rights, human rights defenders, Chevening scholars, journalists, judges and members of the LGBT+ community.

Afghan Operational data is viewable at: Afghan Resettlement Programme: operational data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Our priority right now is the relocation of individuals accepted for resettlement through our established schemes, alongside fixing the gaps in our existing routes. That is why this government has already implemented a specific route under the ACRS to reunite Afghan families unintentionally separated during Operation Pitting. The window for referrals was open from 30 July and closed on 30 October. We have already begun to see arrivals and families be reunited.

Further information is viewable at: Afghan citizens resettlement scheme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).