Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received from the President of the European Commission on the proposed expansion of the European Resettlement Scheme for refugees.

At a meeting of the informal Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council on 9 July Member States agreed to resettle over 22,500 people, taking account of priority regions for resettlement including North Africa, the Middle East and the Horn of Africa, focusing in particular on the countries where Regional Development and Protection Programmes are implemented. The UK made it clear that it would not be participating in an EU resettlement scheme as we already operate successful national schemes. At the extraordinary JHA Council on 14 September, the Home Secretary made clear the Government's view that resettlement from the region is an essential part of the response to the situation in Syria. All UK resettlement activity will continue to be delivered under existing national programmes, including the expanded Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme under which we expect to resettle up to 20,000 Syrians in need of protection during this Parliament.