Refugees: Afghanistan

(asked on 2nd December 2021) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what practical support and services, including legal support, will be available to help families, including constituents in Liverpool West Derby, to navigate the Afghan citizens resettlement scheme when it opens.


Answered by
Victoria Atkins Portrait
Victoria Atkins
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This question was answered on 22nd December 2021

The first to be resettled through the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will be many of those who arrived in the UK under the evacuation programme, which included individuals who were considered to be at particular risk.

Eligible evacuees already in the UK who currently hold Leave Outside the Rules can, if they wish, seek legal advice as part of the process.

All those brought to the UK eligible for the ACRS will have the right to work, access to education and health care and be able to apply for public funds. To ensure they will be supported properly, changes have been made to legislation where necessary, so that they do not need to meet the habitual residence test when applying for benefits.

Under the ACRS, councils will receive £20,520 per person, over 3 years, to enable them to support these vulnerable people as they rebuild their lives in the UK. Councils also receive additional funding per child towards educational costs, and can claim £850 per adult to provide additional English language tuition in the first year after arrival.

Reticulating Splines