Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Home Secretary on the clarity of advice issued to hon. Members and their staff about which Government department they should approach with enquiries from constituents who have relatives or friends in Afghanistan seeking (a) safe passage to or (b) refuge in the UK.

The Government continues to press the Taliban to allow safe passage and to respect human rights, and to work to enable Afghan nationals who were employed by the UK Government, or who were notified by the Government that they were called forward or specifically authorised for evacuation, to come to the UK. Further guidance and helplines numbers for British and non-British nationals in Afghanistan are available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/support-for-british-and-non-british-nationals-in-afghanistan. This page will be updated when new information is available.

Hon. Members should approach the MoD with enquiries regarding Afghan nationals who might be eligible for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme. The eligibility criteria for the ARAP scheme are set out here, alongside details of how to apply: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghan-relocations-and-assistance-policy/afghan-relocations-and-assistance-policy-information-and-guidance.

They should approach the Home Office regarding the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), information on which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/afghan-citizens-resettlement-scheme.

FCDO provides consular support to British nationals. We encourage all British nationals who remain in Afghanistan to confirm their presence using this form: https://www.register-afghanistan.service.csd.fcdo.gov.uk/afghanistan-20210828/confirm-your-presence-in-afghanistan-to-fcdo to give us detailed information of those remaining. All British nationals who have correctly registered their details with the FCDO will receive important updates via email.

If constituents' relatives or friends in Afghanistan are not British nationals and are not otherwise eligible to come to the UK, then there is a limit to what the British Government can do for them as individuals. The Government is committed to supporting Afghanistan and we will use every diplomatic and economic lever at our disposal to restore stability to Afghanistan.