Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she last met the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to discuss the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the UK; and if she will make a statement.

With millions of people in need in Syria and the region, the Government believes that humanitarian aid and actively seeking to end the conflict are the most effective ways for the UK to help the largest number of displaced people, rather than resettlement. We have now pledged £800 million in response to the crisis, and UK funding is helping hundreds of thousands of people across the region. However, we recognise that there are some very vulnerable displaced Syrians who cannot be supported effectively in the region. We therefore launched the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme to complement our aid by providing protection in the UK to some of those at greatest risk. Groups of Syrians are arriving in the UK on a regular basis under the scheme, including people in severe need of medical care, survivors of torture and violence and women and children at risk.

We have made our position on Syrian resettlement clear in relevant discussions with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The Minister for Immigration and Security and the recently-appointed UNHCR Representative to the UK met on 21 January to discuss Syria and other issues. We have also explained our approach to resettlement in relevant international discussions, including the UNHCR Global Resettlement Pledging Conference in Geneva on 9 December 2014. The Government regularly liaises with the UNHCR regarding the operation of the VPR scheme. We continue to work closely with the UNHCR to identify some of the most vulnerable people displaced by the conflict and bring them to the UK.