Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of people expected to travel to the United Kingdom under the newly announced resettlement routes for Afghan and Palestinian refugees.

As announced by the Home Secretary on 28 September, the Home Office has started receiving new referrals for the United Kingdom Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) in 26/27. The Government expects a quarter of UKRS referrals to be Afghan women and girls, and Palestinians.

The Government expects the total arrivals across the UKRS and the 3 new community sponsorship routes to number in the low hundreds at first.

The Home Office works closely with the local authorities that volunteer to participate in the UKRS, and arrival is contingent on local authorities providing accommodation and agreeing to support a refugee family. The number of individuals resettled through the UKRS in any given year will depend on a range of factors, including the capacity of local authorities to welcome, accommodate and integrate refugees.