Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many (a) UK and (b) Afghan nationals eligible for relocation to the UK have departed Afghanistan on international flights departing from Kabul Airport since 9 September 2021; and what criteria was used to select those people for those flights.

A total of 34 British nationals left Kabul on two Qatari Government charters on 9 and 10 September. 13 British nationals, with no Afghan dependents, left from Kabul on Thursday 9 September. A second Charter successfully left Kabul on Friday 10 September. This flight included 21 British nationals, with no Afghan dependents. The eligibility criteria was set by the Qatari Government and required the principal to be a foreign passport holder. Any family members travelling with the principal had to hold the correct documentation (e.g. a foreign passport or an Afghan passport with a valid visa for their final destination). Afghan dependents could only be considered eligible if they already held a British visa in their passport. Other Afghan nationals (not dependents of foreign nationals) were not eligible.