Afghanistan: Refugees

(asked on 16th December 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many and what proportion of locally employed staff from (a) the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, (b) the former Foreign and Commonwealth Office, (c) the former Department for International Development (who worked in Kabul, in the Helmand Provincial Reconstruction Team or elsewhere in Afghanistan) who applied to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme since that scheme was established have been (i) considered eligible, (ii) rejected as not meeting the criteria and (iii) asked to reapply; and how many of those applications are still being processed.


Answered by
James Cleverly Portrait
James Cleverly
Home Secretary
This question was answered on 5th January 2022

The Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme offers resettlement for eligible Afghan staff who have assisted the UK Government, and their families and others who have worked with the Government in exceptional circumstances. Any current or former Locally Employed Staff directly employed by HMG assessed to be at serious risk of threat to life are eligible to apply for ARAP regardless of their employment status, rank or role, or length of time served. The ARAP scheme launched on 1 April 2021 and will continue to remain open. Since the launch, over 8,500 Afghans who worked for us have been evacuated and are being resettled, including interpreters and their immediate families, enabling them to build new lives in the UK. The Ministry of Defence, who lead on ARAP, has received over 90,000 applications to the ARAP Scheme and continues to receive new applications daily.

Reticulating Splines