Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure Afghan nationals who have worked (a) with and (b) for the British (i) diplomatic or (ii) military effort in their country will be supported to flee persecution by the Taliban or other militia.

The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) was launched on 1 April 2021. It acknowledges and reflects the changed situation in Afghanistan and with it, the potential risk to current and former locally employed staff who worked for the UK Government over the past twenty years.

Under the ARAP, any current or former locally employed staff who are assessed to be under serious threat to life are offered priority relocation to the UK regardless of their employment status, rank or role, or length of time served.

We are significantly accelerating the pace of relocations in parallel with the military withdrawal, but our commitment to those who are eligible under the ARAP, and the process to deliver it, is not time-limited.