Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many refugee claims have been rejected under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme since April 2023.
Since 1 April 2023, a total of 67,338 ARAP applications have been found ineligible.
ARAP was always intended to be a relocation scheme specifically for those who served in the employ of the British military (in all but a very narrow number of cases), or in support of wider UK national security objectives, as set out in the specific eligibility criteria in the ARAP policy.
A finite number of Afghans are therefore eligible for ARAP and The Ministry of Defence are prioritising finding and relocating those who we know are eligible.