Refugees: Syria

(asked on 7th March 2016) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate has she made of the number of vulnerable Syrians who have not sought refuge in refugee camps owing to concerns for their own safety; and whether the Government's Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Programme contains provisions to assist such people.


Answered by
James Brokenshire Portrait
James Brokenshire
This question was answered on 11th March 2016

It is estimated that across the region, only 23% of Syrian refugees are in formal camps: the remaining 77% are living amongst host communities.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) identifies and proposes Syrian refugees for the Vulnerable Person Relocation scheme from among the whole of the registered refugee population in the region, over 4 million people. This includes people in formal refugee camps, informal settlements and host communities. Therefore many of those coming to the UK for resettlement will not be coming from UN camps.

We are working with UNHCR and other partners to intensify their outreach to groups that might otherwise be reluctant to register for fear of stigma/discrimination and unaware of the safe space and options available to them. This includes all religious minorities, LGBT, people with disabilities, survivors of torture and sexual violence and others.

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