Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the number of people allowed to resettle in the UK through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme in the next 12 months.

The Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will provide up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.

The ACRS is in addition to individuals relocated through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP). We have relocated over 7,000 eligible Afghan citizens and their family members under the ARAP scheme, which remains open.

The ACRS is a bespoke scheme, which responds to a challenging and complex situation. The capacity of the UK to resettle people is not unlimited and difficult decisions have to be made on who will be prioritised for resettlement.

There are around 6,500 people in the UK who have been brought to safety during and after the evacuation and who are eligible for the ACRS under Pathway 1. They include women’s rights activists, journalists, and prosecutors, as well as Afghan families of British Nationals.

Under Pathway 2, we anticipate receiving referrals from the UNHCR for up to 2,000 refugees during the first year of this pathway. We will continue to receive UNHCR referrals to the scheme in the coming years. Under Pathway 3, in the first year we will offer resettlement places to up to 1,500 people from the three identified cohorts (British Council and GardaWorld contractors and Chevening alumni) and their eligible family members.

Beyond the first year of Pathway 3, the Government will work with our international partners and NGOs to welcome wider groups of Afghans at risk.