Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how Afghan activists at risk due to their environmental activism can travel to the UK to seek refuge.

Those at-risk in Afghanistan and the region are eligible for resettlement through one of the three referral pathways laid out in the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) policy statement. The ACRS scheme is designed to support those who have assisted UK efforts in Afghanistan and stood up for UK values, as well as vulnerable people, such as women and girls at risk, and members of minority groups.

Our referral process is designed to be fair and equitable to those it identifies to be in need. 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.

Under Pathway 2 of the ACRS, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) completes referrals based on their assessments of protection needs and vulnerabilities. We are pleased to have welcomed the first family to the UK under Pathway 2 of the ACRS. We will continue to receive referrals to the scheme in coming years. 

Statistics on Afghan resettlement schemes and programmes - including the number of people resettled - will be included in the published Immigration Statistics.