Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will increase the number of Syrian refugees to be re-settled in the UK; and if she will make a statement.

The Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme is designed to complement our humanitarian aid efforts and is based on need rather than fulfilling a quota; however, we have said we expect it to help several hundred people over
three years, and we remain on track to deliver that commitment. This is in addition to our consideration of asylum claims lodged in the UK under our normal rules. Since the crisis began we have granted protection to more than
3,400 Syrian nationals and their dependants. In addition, the UK has been at the forefront of the international response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria, having pledged £700 million, making us the second largest bilateral donor.
However, we strongly believe that we should continue to focus on aid rather than resettlement as the best way for the UK to maximise our impact, and we therefore have no current plans to expand the scheme.