Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of implementing a (a) resettlement and (b) reunification scheme for citizens of Lebanon with family connections to the UK.

We are deeply concerned by the rising tensions and civilian casualties in Lebanon.

Lebanese nationals who wish to come to the UK can do so via the existing range of routes available.

Any application for a UK visa will be assessed against the requirements of the Immigration Rules. Immediate family members of British citizens and those settled in the UK who wish to come and live in the UK can apply under one of the existing family visa routes.

There are also routes available for dependants of those who are in the UK on a work or student route.

Individuals with protection status or settlement on a protection route may sponsor their partner or child (under 18), to join or stay with them in the UK, providing they formed part of the pre-flight family unit before the sponsor fled their country to seek protection.

We are monitoring the situation in Lebanon closely and keeping all existing pathways under constant review.